


Ninjago Legends

by Rina_Calavera



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Alternate Universe, Blood, Exhaustion, I'm basically trying to rewrite the whole series this is gonna be wild, Injury, Kidnapping, Mild Injury, Tags will be updated as chapters are updated, but I do intend to keep things around pg-14, canon is but the sandbox in which I build my castle, meant to be a lil more serious, then i got excited, was supposed to be minor changes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-04
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2020-06-03 17:03:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 46
Words: 40,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19468312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rina_Calavera/pseuds/Rina_Calavera
Summary: If Ninjago were written for an older age group, what would it be?Lloyd is 13. He's lived with his uncle for the past ten years, training as more elemental masters arrived at the monastery. When they do find the fire elemental, clashing personalities kick-start a whirlwind of danger and secrets.





	1. Prologue

Long ago, before time had a name…

The world was a new creation, born of the first Elemental Master. He gave life to the seas, wind to the land, and thunder to the skies. Into every vein of the world he put a portion of his power, and it reflected in the goodness of the world. He took pride in his creation, and took his place within it.

Centuries later, he created something he treasured far more than his new realm – two sons, born but a few years apart. Like the world before them, each inherited a portion of their father’s power. To the youngest went the power of creation, fueled by light. To the eldest went the dark power of destruction. Though their powers clashed, the boys were close, and their family was loving. The Elemental Master loved his sons dearly, and resolved to teach them all he knew.

But to every action, there is a reaction, and to every light a shadow. Though he loved his sons endlessly, the Elemental Master was a strict teacher. He drove his children to be strong fighters, and their training was bitter work. As fate would have it, one day the two sparred. The elder disarmed his brother easily, sending his blunt weapon over the walls of their courtyard. The two hesitated to tell their father, for fear of his disappointment. But the younger was deeply afraid of the coarse jungle surrounding their home, and could not bring himself to fetch the weapon. His brother, feeling guilt over the situation, offered to go in his stead.

“Don’t put off til tomorrow what can be done today!” Garmadon called down to his brother. The boy pulled himself up to the top of the wall, pausing for a moment on his perch.

“Be careful! We don’t want Father to hear…” Wu wrung his hands together, shooting a glance to where their father meditated across the courtyard. “He won’t like you going over the wall…or me losing the katana in the first place…” Garmadon let out a laugh, while Wu furrowed his eyebrows.

“He can’t be upset if he doesn’t know! I’ll be right back, I just need you to help me get back up the wall. Now come on!” The older boy offered his hand to the younger, while Wu turned again towards their still silent father. Garmadon pulled his brother up with a short grunt, nearly losing his balance on the white brick. He let out another laugh, ruffling Wu’s light hair when the boy looks alarmed. “Just stay here, I’ll go find it. Keep an eye on Father and help me up when I come back.” He launched himself off the wall, landing lightly in the thick undergrowth beyond it. Within seconds, Wu lost sight of his brother.

“Garmadon?” Wu’s timid voice barely seemed to reach the jungle floor. “Did you find the katana?” A quick glance behind him confirmed his father’s continued meditation. “Garmadon, now is not the time to be playing pranks. You know Father doesn’t like it when – “ The quiet rustle of plants cut off Wu’s lecture. “Garmadon…” Wu searched intently from his place atop the wall.

“HAH!” The sudden screech nearly shocked Wu off the wall and back into the courtyard, his scrabbling drowned out by Garmadon’s barely contained giggles. Having recovered his balance, he shot his brother a frustrated look. “Aw come on Wu, the opportunity was too good! You worry too much!” Garmadon’s continued laughter softened his brother’s pout, and Wu offered his hand.

“Did you find it?” Garmadon reached for Wu, pausing for a moment.

“Yeah I did.” His eyebrows turn up for a moment, and he patted his empty belt. “Weird…it must have fallen when I jumped at you.” He turned back to the jungle, eyes searching the forest floor. “Do you see it anywhere?” Both boys scanned the thick undergrowth, looking for the weapon’s bright paint. A subtle sound caught Wu’s ear, turning his attention from his brother. A flash of purple scales and sharp fangs sent ice through his veins.

“GARMADON!”


	2. Old Friends

“Uncle? Uncle!”

Wu awoke with a start, his sleep interrupted by a young voice. “Finally. You told me to wake you when the sun rose.” Bright red eyes stared at him impatiently, waiting for the old man to fully rise. He rose with stiff limbs, joints showing their age. “Where are we going, anyway?”

The man let out a chuckle at his nephew’s eagerness to move. “All in due time, Lloyd. At least allow me to make us a meal before you interrogate your uncle for the third time.” The boy pouted at the dismissal, turning towards their pack of food. Soon the two had a simple breakfast in front of them, spread on a small traveler’s cloth by their fire. The thirteen-year-old soon finished, his leg bouncing with leftover energy from his morning watch.

“Uncle…”

Wu let out a laugh at the boy’s fidgeting. “We are going to visit an old friend, Lloyd. Two, in fact.” Lloyd’s face lit up at the mention of people.

“Old friends? From the Serpentine Wars?” Wu sipped his morning tea as the boy went on. “Did they fight with you? Were they masters? What were their powers?

“Did they know my father?”

The two paused for a moment at the question. “They…no. They did not know your father. He and his story were…before their time. Ray and Maya are elementals, however, though now retired.” Wu paused for a moment, still enjoying the growing sun rays. “They were instrumental in the Serpentine Wars, and in missions following. Though I suspect their adventuring days may be long past.” A glimmer of nostalgia flew across his wrinkled face.

“So are they going to help us?” Lloyd busied himself with taking down their tents, young hands working quickly. “Y’know, with the,”

“Yes, Lloyd.” Wu rose to his feet, various joints protesting. “I intend to ask them for their assistance. But,” A quick swipe of his staff, and the fire fizzled under sand and dust. “It is important to remember that life goes on, and they may deny our request. Ray and Maya are in their thirties now. They aren’t the teenagers I wrangled as a younger man.”

The teen raised his eyebrow at the idea of his uncle as a ‘young man’. Wu’s long white beard matched his robes, and the traditional hat he wore was reportedly older than Lloyd himself. The mere idea was absurd.

“Come along, nephew!” One thing that hadn’t aged was the man’s speed in traveling. “We should reach the blacksmith shop by midday if we move quickly!”

“Yes, uncle!”


	3. At the Edge of Jamanakai Village

Soon a small village came into view, nestled at the foot of the mountains. Lloyd followed behind as Wu flagged down a nearby shopkeeper.

“What can I do for you two? Interested in any leather wares?” Wu humored him for a moment, asking about traveler’s bags.

“We’re looking for the Smith’s – Ray and Maya.” A shadow fell over the man’s face. “Do they not still live here? The last I had heard from them, they’d opened a shop here.” Lloyd looked between his uncle and the man, a sense of unease falling over them.

“The only Smiths I know of live at the edge of town. At the base of the mountain. Good day to you sir.” The man abruptly turned away, shutting his shop. The door shut with a slam, dust settling after the man’s speed.

“That was…weird.” Lloyd stared at the now locked door, confused. “You did say they were on our side, right Uncle?” He turned to Wu, jogging to catch up to the man. “Uncle?”

“Come Lloyd. We must hurry.” Wu’s pace increased, the man almost jogging himself.

“Uncle, what’s going on?” Lloyd stared as the village morphed into a ghost town as they walked, shops and homes loudly shuttering themselves. “Who are these people?”

“AAARGH! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?” The sudden outburst stopped the two, sharing a glance. Lloyd nodded at Wu, running ahead to an isolated house, and slipping by the door. Muffled cursing filtered through the windows, and smoke began curling up from under the door. Lloyd’s eyes widened – his uncle had mentioned that these masters took up blacksmithing. Was the house on fire?

The door flew open, a boy rushing out while coughing up a lung. A girl fell out after him, an empty bucket in her hands. Smoke billowed out of the house, and the sound of sizzling followed. The two sat in the dirt, the boy’s soaking wet hair dripping onto his apron. Lloyd stared at them with furrowed eyebrows as they caught their breath.

“Are…you okay?” He looks between them and the now dowsed fire. The boy scowled up at him, swatting away his offered hand.

“We’re fine.” He quickly got up, dusting off his leather apron and helping up the girl. “Scram kid, we’ve got stuff to do.”

“Hold on, you’re like what, fifteen?” Lloyd stepped to follow the two back into the house. “Hey! We’re trying to help you, you,” Wu cut off his blustering.

“Where are Ray and Maya?” The question stopped the boy cold and drew a concerned look from the girl. Lloyd turned back to Wu, frustrated. “Where are the Smiths?”

“No clue.” The boy’s voice was tense, his words ground out. “Unless you’re here to buy something or evict us, get lost.” He stepped into the doorway and made to shut the door. He turned with a glare when Wu’s hand held it open.

“Where did they go?” Wu’s hand held steady against the boy’s attempt to close the door. “Where. Are. They?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t care.” Now that he was in a battle of wills with Wu, Lloyd took in the look of him. His tanned skin was tinted gray, and his face was thinner and sharper than it should have been. He was shorter than Wu, despite looking and acting like a young adult. His brown hair was spiked and unruly, and his eyes were sharp. A long scar ran down the right side of his face, through his eye. “Leave me and my sister alone. I don’t know who those people are, and I don’t want to know.”

Wu returned his gaze, looking for any sign of lies. “At least allow me and my nephew to help you repair the fire damage.” The offer seemed to further incense him, and his eyes flashed brighter.

“Okay I don’t know who you are or what you think you’re doing but-“ Lloyd dove to catch him when Wu struck him unconscious.

“Uncle – oof – you couldn’t have waited until we were inside?” The boy was heavier than he looked. Lloyd struggled to get a better grip, and turned to the girl, who was eyeing a nearby pan with a concerning look in her eye. “Please don’t. I promise we’re not dangerous. Does your brother have a couch or something I can put him on?” She froze for a moment before nodding.

“My name is Nya, and that’s Kai. Who are you people? What do you want with our parents?”


	4. Kai and Nya Smith

Kai and Nya’s home was small, and very much…lived in. Smoke still curled up from one end of the room, where a gnarled piece of metal lay wrapped in a dripping burned cloth. Other failed works lay scattered around the room, half-used rolls of gauze spread out between them. The table and stools were all scorched and splintered in places, while the wood floor bent and bowed from water damage.

Lloyd dumped Kai unceremoniously onto a battered couch that had seen better days. Nya gingerly sat herself next to her brother as he and Wu sat on stools brought in from the kitchen.

“I’m Lloyd. This is my uncle, Sensei Wu. We,” Lloyd glanced at his uncle. “We’re looking for your parents.” The thought had clearly bothered Kai, and Nya’s eyes darted down to his face. Lloyd recalled the sudden change back in the village. “Why did the people in town freak out when we mentioned them? Where are they?” Nya sighed.

“As rude as he was, Kai was mostly telling the truth.” She walked over to their table, pulling a small picture out of a frame. Handing it to Wu, she continued. “We don’t know them. Kai says they disappeared when we were kids, but I’ve never met them. Not that I can remember anyway.” Lloyd eyed his uncle’s face warily, glancing down at the picture in his hand. A young man and woman smiled up at him, clad in a blacksmith’s apron and and an artist’s smock. So much for a happy reunion. “I promise he’s not as bad as he acted earlier. You caught him on a rough…hour.”

Wu let out a weary breath, taking in the scattered metal and bandages. “I gathered. What is it exactly that your brother is trying to do?”

Nya turned to him sharply. “Trying to take care of us, that’s what!” Lloyd’s own eyes widened while his uncle’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Do you think that village cares for us at all without getting some sort of return for their time?” She kicked one of the scraps, the clang ringing out in the small room. “All our father left us was a forge and a house. Not even a scroll or scrap of paper to explain how to use it.” She continued quietly. “My brother is trying to learn to smith without a teacher. I don’t know how he took care of us when we were younger. I don’t ask.” Wu studied the girl, his eyes unreadable. “He’s angry. I admit that. He knows it too. You would be too if you got treated the way he does.” Lloyd couldn’t help but stare at the tears welling up in the older girl’s eyes. Her face had the same unnatural sharpness to it that her brother’s did, and the same odd gray tone. She starts at Wu’s hand on her shoulder, her fists shaking.

“I should have come long ago, when the letters first stopped.” She stared at the old man, mistrust and confusion written on her face. “I knew Ray and Maya. I should have known you. It’s time I remedied that.” He turned to Lloyd, who straightened at his attention. “Help Nya pack. When he wakes, we’re returning to the monastery.” Wu wrapped an arm around the girl, hugging her tight. She stiffly returned the gesture, her breath ragged. “Are you alright?” She jumped at the question, then nodded. Behind them, Kai turned in his sleep, nearly falling off the couch. Nya giggled.

“Thank you for that. He hasn’t really slept in days.”


	5. Kindled Flames

Thankfully, the journey back to the monastery would be a short one. Wu and Lloyd were light travelers, and Nya and Kai had little to carry. Although Kai’s temper did stretch the journey…

“You’re literally only four years older than me. My name’s Lloyd. L-L-O-Y-D.” Nya let out a long-suffering sigh as the boys bickered. “Get that? Not kid. Lloyd.” Wu shook his head. Lloyd’s isolation from the world and Kai’s solitude in the village were clashing fantastically as the older antagonized the younger.

“Well my ancient ears can’t seem to hear right, Luh-loyd. Thank the first master you spelled it out for my senile old self.” After waking up, Kai had cooled enough to hear out the plan, though he hadn’t been pleased. He’d fumed and argued for an impressive hour and a half into their journey, then turned to nagging Lloyd. At one point the younger had called him an old fart, sparking a very stubborn tangent. Wu warily eyed his nephew, the blond fuming at the deliberate butchering of his name.

“Okay, listen here you-”

It was time the bickering stopped. “Perhaps rest will be fitting. We’ll have to sleep before we reach home, and it’s best to keep our strength and spirits up.” Nya and Lloyd quickly turned to unpacking the food and tents, while Wu motioned Kai to follow him.

Kai folded his arms, a semi-permanent pout on his face. “What do you want us to do? They’ve got camp covered.” He scuffed the ground with his foot, staring at Wu. The old man carefully unpacked his own bag, pulling out a weathered teapot. Kai raised an eyebrow, watching him gather a small bundle of nearby twigs and branches. Satisfied, Wu sat in front of his pile, motioning for Kai to follow suit. He waved his hand over the wood.

“Light the fire, Kai.” Wu looked up expectantly at the teen.

Kai scoffed, looking around. “I didn’t exactly bring my forge, old man. And my hands aren’t made of flint.” He flopped to the ground, legs folding under him. “Unless you’ve got matches or spark powder, you’ll have to eat without your tea.” Wu hummed, staring at the boy. “What.” More silence. “Look, you dragged me out here, not the other way around.” Wu pulled another teacup out of his pack. “If it weren’t for Nya – hey are you even listening?!” Kai’s voice rose as the old man perused his travel selection of teas. “We didn’t ask for you or your monastery!” The air seemed to still, the wind dying down. “If you ask me, we should have stayed back in Jamanakai!” The boy jumped up, stomping around in the growing heat. Nya’s head popped up in concern, waved off by Wu. “So why don’t you light your own fire, go find your own parents, and leave me and my sister out-” The burst of flame as Kai paced in front of Wu’s bundle of kindling cut off his tirade. Wu set his teapot on the flames, patiently waiting for his drink, while Kai dropped back to the ground. He gaped at the steadily burning campfire in dumbfounded surprise. “What – how – what did you do?” He numbly took a teacup from Wu, Lloyd and Nya joining them with dinner.

“I did nothing but prove my suspicions Kai. There is much you lost with your parents. Not the least of which is your heritage and history.” Wu handed tea to the other two, sipping from his own. “Ray was not a blacksmith by accident. He could have his forge in his home because he was unique. Gifted, in a way, by the first Elemental Master himself.” Kai and Nya were transfixed by his words. “Kai, you share that gift. I had my suspicions this morning, but I think it’s clear now, especially considering, well.” He motioned to their warmly burning fire. Nya looked between it and her still stunned brother.

“That explains why you could never put the fire out when you were trying to smith.” She turned back to Wu. “Then why can’t I set fires? Sure, we’re not exactly twins, but he was my father too.” Wu paused, thoughtfully sipping his tea.

“It is true, that you and Kai are blood. I do not know why the fire chose Kai – but it would usually only choose one. Many times, an element will split if an elemental has multiple children – it is said that many centuries ago, the storm elemental had two daughters, which split the original power into wind and mist.” Nya perked up – perhaps she would control heat? Smoke? Energy itself? “However, fire is one of the oldest, most basic elements. It would not split so easily.” She deflated, Kai patting her on the back. Wu packed away his teapot and cup, dowsing the fire. “It is time we slept. Tomorrow’s journey will be short, but only if we begin early. Lloyd, if you would wake me at –”

Lloyd nodded, knowing his uncle’s request. “At sunrise, I will. Goodnight Uncle, Nya.” He eyed Kai warily. “Flame Brain.” Kai spluttered over his tea while Nya giggled, the fire burning a bit higher as Lloyd walked away.


	6. I Am Zane

They arrived at the monastery late the next day, the sky painted red and purple. The monastery was beautiful, and clearly meant to hold a large group of people. Its white walls were trimmed with red and black tiles, and its imposing gate bore the symbol of a golden dragon. Kai and Nya glanced at each other nervously, a silent agreement passing between them. Lloyd immediately perked up at the sight of his home, breaking into a run. As the other three made their way up the path, the gate opened, and a young man in white stepped out.

“Zane!” Lloyd leaped at him, laughing.

The sudden weight didn’t faze the tall man at all. “How was the journey, Lloyd? Did you and Sensei find the elemental – “ Lloyd clapped his hand over Zane’s mouth, shaking his head. He motioned at a confused Nya and Kai, scrunching his eyebrows and pursing his lips. Zane was silent for a moment, then nodded in understanding. “I see.”

He extended a hand to Kai, a small smile on his face. “I am Zane. I am the monastery’s primary caretaker.” Kai studied him for a moment, an eyebrow raised. Zane’s skin was unsettlingly pale, and his hair was even lighter than Lloyd’s. His eyes were startlingly bright blue, and he stood straight, even with Lloyd clinging to him. Kai carefully took his hand, giving it a light shake.

“…Kai. That’s – “

“I’m Nya.” Nya stepped forward, placing a hand on her brother’s arm. “Not mute. Sensei Wu didn’t mention another person being here. Are there more of you?” Zane tilted his head.

“To my knowledge, I am the only Zane.” Lloyd shook his head.

“No, Zane, she means other people.” He jumped down, running in to the courtyard. His voice trailed after him. “Come on! You’ll need to pick rooms!” Kai shrugged, eyeing Zane as he followed Nya inside.

Within the walls, the monastery itself was just as beautiful as its outside. A main hall stood in the middle, three stories reaching above the courtyard. More rooms stretched from it on either side, each having a doorway opening to the center. Lloyd stood in the center of the yard, his arms stretched above him.

“Welcome home!” He shouted. Now that he was home, he seemed full of boundless energy, cartwheeling and flipping around the open yard.

Kai eyed the teen warily. “He certainly perked up. What did he mean by choosing rooms? Aren’t there more people here?” Wu nodded next to him.

“Usually, yes. The monastery is home to two others, both of which are on their own journeys at the moment. They each have chosen a room on the north side of the courtyard, along with Lloyd.” He walked Kai over to the south side of the yard, motioning to two empty doorways. “You and Nya may decide which of these you would like.” Kai peered into the sparse room, the four walls easily able to hold the small home he and Nya shared up until two days ago. He turned to Wu, only to find the man gone, disappeared into the main house. His sister walked up to him, long shadows falling across the polished wood floor.

“Are we really staying here Kai?” He let out a long sigh, looking up at her.

“At least for now. I mean,” he sat on the small bed, looking up at the ceiling. “This is better than where we were. And the floor isn’t singed.” Nya smiled at her brother.

“It is better. And Wu and Lloyd seem nice, when you aren’t antagonizing them. Don’t even try to deny it, brother.” Kai shut his half-open mouth, swallowing a denial. “And even that Zane guy seems okay. Give it a month?” He nodded slowly, the stress and exhaustion of the day settling in. “You can have this room.” Nya went to leave, Kai following to shut the door. “I’ll be next door. Try not to burn down the nice man’s house.”


	7. Do You Like Blue?

“Ow!” Kai jumped forward with a loud thwack, hitting his head on the shelf above his bed. He rubbed the back of his head, scowling. What had woken him up?

“Oh man Zane, we have got to work on your sense of humor!” Loud – very loud – laughter filtered in through his closed door. Kai grumbled as he dragged himself out of bed, a very noticeable lump on his forehead developing into a headache. He opened the door with a groan, the sun hanging high above him.

Nya skipped over, laughing. “Hey sleepy head!” She looked at him with a concerned smile, taking in his bleary eyes and forming bruise. “What happenedto your head?” A blond mop of hair whipped out from behind her.

“Yeah flame brain, what happened?” Kai scowled at Lloyd, his voice grating on his forming migraine. He hissed through his teeth at the teen.

“I was dragged from my home, told I have fire powers, and got woken up by some idiot loudmouth who won’t shut up.” Lloyd recoiled from the harsh tone. He stared at Kai for a minute, his grin replaced by a frown.

“Well excuse me, grumpy pants. Anytime you and the nice Smith want to meet the others, let me know.” He ran off toward Zane and two other boys. Nya frowned at her brother.

“Kai.” He turned to go back to his room. “Hey!” He turned back to her, rolling his eyes. “Go lie down or something, but you better apologize to Lloyd. He’s just a kid. He didn’t know about your headache, or how you woke up.” He shoved her hand off, mumbling an agreement before slamming the door shut.

“Hey Nya! Come tell these guys about Kai!” She sighed, shaking her head at the shut door before joining the boys in the yard. Lloyd seemed to have bounced back from Kai’s temper. “This is Cole!” Lloyd gestured to a sturdy mountain of a teen, a black-haired boy who towered over Nya and Lloyd both. He smiled at Nya, brushing some of his hair behind his ear.

“Nice to meet you!” His hand dwarfed hers, but his handshake was gentle enough. “The blue motormouth behind me is Jay.” He pointed a thumb behind him, where a short, freckled boy animatedly chattered circles around Zane.

“So then, Cole’s still got one foot through a crate, my nunchucks are halfway through the wall, and the guy is still spinning like a busted pinata! I jump up, grab the stuffed deer’s antlers – “ Zane leaned over and waved at Nya and Cole, drawing Jay’s attention to them. “ – and k-kick – “ He quickly dissolved into stammering, his freckles lighting up in a brilliant red. “Uh – Hi.” Zane tilted his head, while Cole fruitlessly tried to hide his snickering. “I’m uh, I’m Jay.” He absentmindedly shook Nya’s hand, looking like a deer in headlights. “Who,” Nya looked at a very amused Lloyd, who was grinning like the cat that caught the canary, while Jay stammered. “Do ah, do you like blue?” The question caught Nya off guard, a laugh bursting out.

“It’s my favorite color!” Jay’s face lit up in a grin. Zane looked between the two, an eyebrow raised.

“Why does it matter if Nya likes the color blue? Disliking the color that Jay wears does not mean –“ Cole cut him off, shaking his head.

“No Zane, Jay just can’t talk to girls.”


	8. There's Something To Tell

That night at dinner, a more rested Kai was introduced to Cole and Jay.

“So let me get this straight – you were off getting your butts handed to you as a recruitment mission? Who sends a couple of teens on a recruitment mission?” Wu and the teens were gathered around the table, waiting for Zane. Jay rolled his eyes while Cole explained.

“We weren’t supposed to be having to fight. Sensei just wanted us to follow up on a lead about one of the old elemental masters. We need all the help we can get to – oof!” He dropped off into a grumble, rubbing his leg while Wu blamelessly avoided his glare.

Kai frowned. “Help with what?” The conversation dropped off as Zane entered the room from the kitchen, holding bowls of food. “Dude. Seriously?” A teasing grin cracked across Kai’s face at Zane’s pink apron. The pale boy raised an eyebrow, confused.

“Did I say something amusing?” He asked a snickering Jay. Wu quieted the snickering teens with a couple of taps of his staff against the floor.

He cleared his throat once Zane served everyone. “If you and Nya are going to be joining us, we need to discuss your education and training.” Kai’s jaw immediately set, while Nya’s ears turned red. Wu continued. “I need to teach Kai especially about controlling his fire. You will join us for sunrise exercise tomorrow morning.” At the mention of mastering his newfound power, Kai straightened up. “We will discuss this further after some tests, which I will conduct throughout this week.” Wu returned to his meal, urging the teens to follow suit.

That week, Wu held true to his word. At first, the tests were simple enough – Kai and Nya had no martial art training whatsoever, as expected. The two quickly joined the other four in training, learning from them as well as Wu. The problem came from other tests – and from Kai.

A frustrated yell echoed through the training yard, catching the attention of the others as Cole and Zane faced off.

Cole shook his head as he dodged another strike from Zane. “Still can’t manage to keep the candle lit, can he?”

Nya slouched on the steps in front of the main hall, frowning at the far end of the yard where her brother was quite literally blowing up. “He’s just passionate. Kai wants to be able to command a wall of flame, but somehow controlling a teeny little spark is impossible.” Cole tossed Zane over his head, the other boy rolling into the impact and jumping back into the fight.

“Fire is a dangerous element, Nya. Control is of the utmost importance.” The two grappled for a moment before Zane continued. “If I were to lose control of my own element, the consequences could be dire.” Zane’s breath huffed out of him as Cole slammed him to the ground, a pointed frown on his face.

“You’re an elemental too?” Nya hopped up, crossing her arms. Cole glared at Zane, who had a guilty look on his face. Cole pulled him up, going to retreat to his room. “Oh no, this isn’t like dinner.” Nya narrowed her eyes at the two, continuing. “Wu is too busy with Kai to shut you up. Spill.” Cole kept his stony look for a moment before deflating and motioning Nya to follow him inside. They stopped at Wu’s library, sure that the sensei wouldn’t catch sight of them.

Cole leaned against a bookshelf, considering his words a moment. “We’re all elementals.” He held up his hand, pebbles and rocks swirling between his fingers. “I’m the supposed master of earth, though I’m nowhere close to doing anything with it.” He closed his fist, the dirt disappearing. “Motormouth’s the master of lightning. And the popsicle there – “ Zane set his hand on a nearby desk, frost designs crawling over it and covering the wood.

Nya’s face softened as she stared at the growing patterns of ice. “So why did it take so long to find Kai? Wu said he and our parents were friends, and Jamanakai is only a day and a half from the monastery.” Cole shrugged.

“Sensei doesn’t share very often. Frankly he’d prefer us to tell you none of this.” Zane nodded, waving his hand over the formerly frost-covered desk. “Don’t know why, tends to blow up in our faces later. Jay nearly blew out the lights when he found out he wasn’t the only one.”

“Sensei Wu has lived for a long time. He knows the value of secrets. However,” Zane continued as the three walked back downstairs toward the yard. “He may have lost sight of the importance of transparency.”

Maniacal laughter caught their attention as Kai sped towards them, holding a candle. “I did it! I actually did it!” Nya leaned back as the barely lit candle was shoved in her face. “A small flame! Ha!” Kai was beaming, his face showing a dimple the others hadn’t seen the entire time they’d been at the monastery. He looked down at the candle, its flame holding strong in his hands. His voice quieted in awe.

"I can actually control it."


	9. Dine and Dashed

Dinner that night was a joyous occasion, everyone wanting to celebrate Kai’s newfound control over his element. Zane and Nya conspired to make his favorite dish, one that sent Jay screaming for milk when he ate too big of a bite. Kai’s smile never faded the whole night.

“Y’know fireball, I don’t think we realized you could smile!” Cole joked. Kai flushed, his ears turning red while Nya snorted. Cole patted him on the back, laughing. “Well don’t stop on our account!” The others joined in, the laughter infectious.

Jay chimed in his agreement. “Yeah man, it’s good to see you cheered up! You’ve been so down in the dumps we were worried that maybe you were just the elemental master of cheesed off!” This set off another round of laughing, the whole room feeling brighter than it had in a week. Once the room quieted a little, a bashful looking Kai spoke up.

“About all that – hey, Lloyd, c’mere.” The blond had been standoffish since Kai’s retort that first morning, and he’d jumped on doing household tasks that would keep him away from the training yard all week. Kai rubbed the back of his neck, a more serious look on his face. “I’m sorry I yelled at you. You were being nice, and having fun, and I was mad. I’m sorry.” The room was silent, waiting for Lloyd’s answer, when he jumped at Kai, nearly knocking him to the ground.

“It’s fine Flame Brain. Just don’t be a jerk when you have migraines.” Kai shot his sister a glare as she shrugged.

“Told you to apologize that night. You didn’t. I won’t now.” Kai returned Lloyd’s hug, jumping as a flash went off, following by Jay giggling and Nya trying to hide a camera.

“Oh come on! Low blow sis!”

As the days went by, Kai’s control grew stronger. He helped Zane in the kitchen, lighting their gas stove on occasion and broiling various dishes when needed. Wu often had the two spar, once it was revealed that Zane’s powers were known to Nya, and therefore Kai. In fact, all four of the older boys spent more time together as Kai’s skill grew. And while Nya was happy for her brother – he hadn’t been this carefree in years – it did get lonely on occasion. Especially once he got to go on missions.

“See ya sis bye!” The monastery gate swung closed, a flash of red disappearing through it. Nya sighed from her spot on the porch, turning her attention to Lloyd. The youngest one got left behind anytime someone left the monastery – why he traveled with Wu to meet them baffled Nya. The current excuse was that his training was behind the others – nevermind Kai’s delayed start. He’d responded by adopting her brother’s stellar attitude.

“And take THAT, serpentine scum!” He yelled as he sent a training dummy flying. The kid was stronger than he looked, Nya gave him that much. He and Jay tended to spar a lot, due to their similar size, but he could easily take on Kai or Zane. He walked back to Nya, still huffing from his workout. “So where are they off to this time?” He flopped onto the wood slats with her, sprawling across the porch.

Nya shrugged, frowning. “Don’t know. Said it was a ‘top secret training mission’.” She air quoted her brother. “I swear I saw marshmallows in his pack.” The two pouted together, Nya fuming. “You know what?” She jumped up, startling Lloyd. “We’re going to have our own trip. With our own marshmallows, and our own training!” She stomped off to her room, Lloyd trailing after her, spewing protests.

“But Nya! Wu-“ he dodged a flying sandal as she rummaged through her closet. “Wu says I need to stay here! That I can’t leave the monastery without him!” She moved from her room to the kitchen in the main hall, a determined look on her face the whole way. “Nya are you listening to me?” Lloyd nearly ran into her as she whirled around, holding a box of graham crackers threateningly.

“All I’m hearing is that Wu wants you to stay here and be bored. And that you’re going to let that happen.” Lloyd stared up at her face, dumbstruck. He set his jaw the same as hers, eyeing the crackers.

“Fine but we have to bring the hot chocolate too.” Nya marched away, a triumphant grin on her determined face. Lloyd nodded to himself before following her, snatching the hot chocolate mix out of the pantry on his way.

It was relatively easy to sneak out of the monastery. The boys going in and out of the gate made it easy to open, and they made sure to stuff their beds with training dummies to ward off suspicion – complete with a “sick note” on their doors. Without a word, they were out of the walls and in the forest at the base of the mountain.


	10. Going, Going...Gone?

At first, Lloyd could hardly contain himself – he jumped through the trees above Nya, too hyper to bother walking with her on the ground. He swung and leapt from branch to branch, raining leaves down on her. Nya rolled her eyes at his energy, smiling to herself. The afternoon was beautiful, and even with their packs it was easy to let the mind wander. Neither noticed how the trees became more gnarled as they went on, how the birds seemed to get quieter with every step. When they did pick a spot to camp, even the afternoon breeze had died down, and the air was dry and stale.

“Can I have some of the water?” Nya tossed a canteen at Lloyd, the boy panting from his wild trek. She quickly pitched the tent while he started a small campfire, already breaking into the sweets they’d brought along. He whined when the bag was snatched out of his hands, replaced with a pack of hot dogs.

“Sensei will already have me cleaning the library for weeks for taking you out here, I’m not letting him kill me for feeding you candy for dinner.” She sat next to him, grabbing one for herself and stabbing it with a stick. “Why can’t you leave the monastery anyway?”

Lloyd shrugged, his mouth full. “Dunno. Uncle always gives a different answer.” He looked out into the trees, taking in the green and the filtered sunlight. “I think it has to do with my dad. He never likes talking about him either.” He reached for another hot dog, Nya frowning.

“Why do you live with your uncle? Did something happen?” He paused, holding the food in mid-air. He frowned, setting the pack back down. “You don’t have to tell me…it’s just…it seems weird, you know?”

Lloyd sighed. “I know. Like I said, Uncle won’t tell me much. Mom comes around every couple of years or so, but…I’ve never met my dad.” Nya offered him a marshmallow, bribing him to go on. “Mom says he was different when they met, that he really wanted to be a good father. But something happened and he had to leave.” His voice turned bitter as he watched the fire, his marshmallow turning golden brown. “Don’t get how leaving your kid fits into that.” Nya stared at the boy, the fire reflecting in his narrowed red eyes. “Maybe that’s why Uncle won’t tell me anything. Thinks I’ll leave to go find him or something.”

“Would you?”

The two were quiet for a moment, the crackling of the fire seeming to echo around them. Lloyd’s marshmallow was burned black, and the two jumped when it splatted into the fire.

“I think I’m gonna go to bed.”

\---

“HEY!” Nya jumped, nearly headbutting Kai in the face. “What do you think you’re doing out here?” He hissed. She scowled at him, trying to calm her racing heart.

“Me? What about you, mister ‘top secret training’?” Kai snapped his mouth shut, remembering the excuse he’d given that morning.

“That is not the issue here!” The two whispered at the top of their lungs, bickering as they clambered out of the tent. Zane, Jay, and Cole all stood outside, milling around a freshly rekindled fire. Zane seemed disinterested, while Jay tried to look anywhere but Kai and Nya. “Wu is going nuts! Training dummies? Seriously?” Nya refused to face her brother, stomping around the camp. “How stupid do you think we are?” She whirled around at him, while Cole suddenly found a nearby stump to be very interesting.

“How stupid? How stupid?” She fumed. “How stupid do you think I am? Or Lloyd? We know half of these ‘missions’ are just excuses to leave!” She jabbed a finger at her brother, backing him into a tree. “The least you could do is take us with you, but no! No ‘normal people’ allowed apparently!”

“Nya what’s – “ All five turned to a very disheveled Lloyd, sporting an impressive bedhead. He straightened up, taking in their sudden company. “Hey…guys…” Kai pushed Nya’s shoulder, stepping towards Lloyd.

“And how could you think this was a good call? Do you know how worried your uncle is?” Now that everyone was awake, all attempts at a whisper were gone. Lloyd stared at Kai, wide eyed but not yet fully awake.

He mumbled a reply, blinking away the grogginess. Kai loomed over him. “Well? You can’t seriously be that dumb!” He stared up at Kai with wide, teary eyes. Kai back pedaled, sputtering out an apology. “I’m sorry – I just – you weren’t there, and Nya was gone and – “ Lloyd stepped back, dodging Kai’s attempt to grab his arm. He spun around, racing off into the forest, the others calling his name behind him.

Nya stepped after him, pausing to look at Kai. “We just wanted to have our own fun.”

Lloyd ran blindly through the trees, tripping over gnarled roots and dry husks of dead branches. Tears flowed down his face. Kai had said he’d be better. He’d been better. They’d had fun, he’d even sparred, it had been good – but one bad decision – why did he even listen to Nya? He slammed into the ground when a stray root caught his ankle, pain shooting through his knee and elbow. He punched the dirt, breath gasping into his lungs. He curled up under the tree, frustrated and tired and wishing he was back home. He almost didn’t notice the glowing red eyes peering up at him from between the roots, the soft voice hissing out at him.

“What’s wrong, little one?”


	11. Beds Empty, No Note?

Several hours earlier, the group of boys had laughed back into the monastery, Jay grinning from yet another joke. Kai raised an eyebrow at the note on Nya’s door, but ignored it in favor of racing Cole to the kitchen. The two stuffed their faces with pastries from breakfast before Zane shooed them out quickly, insisting that dinner wouldn’t take but a moment and to go find Lloyd. It was then that Wu returned from his quick trip to town for groceries and tea.

“Where is my nephew? It is time for another lesson.” He asked each of them, going from the main hall into the training yard.

Cole and Jay had moved on to sparring, with Kai playing a biased referee. “Note on his door said he wasn’t feeling too great, Sensei.” Cole caught Jay midair, tossing him across the yard effortlessly. Jay flipped up and climbed one of the wooden balance structures, nimbly dancing out of Cole’s reach.

“Yeah, he and Nya both! Must have had something bad for lunch – hey Kai did you teach her how to cook? Lloyd isn’t allowed to touch the stove after the ramen incident – “ Kai caught Wu’s worried eye, ignoring his teammate. He followed the old man inside, headed for Lloyd’s room.

“What’s wrong? Do you think they’d sneak off somewhere?” Nya had seemed restless that morning when he’d left, but he’d just chalked it up to the heat. Wu’s brows were drawn down over his eyes, and he stroked his beard thoughtfully as they walked up to Lloyd’s door.

He hummed. “My nephew has been…frustrated…lately, but I’m sure he wouldn’t – “ Wu scrutinized the note hanging on the door, the characters scribbled and smudged with haste. “Open the door Kai.” Kai hurried to comply, worried by Wu’s terse tone. The two burst into the small room, eyes immediately drawn to the bed. The covers were drawn up over the lump in the bed – the suspiciously still lump. Wu yanked the cover off with a flourish, revealing a training dummy in a set of Lloyd’s pajamas. Kai’s eyes widened, and he ran off to check Nya’s room. Wu found him with smoke trailing out of his mouth, a string of curses pouring out as he stomped out. A curious Jay and Zane quickly backed out of his way as he marched out, snatching a pack on his way.

“Whoa! Slow down firebrand, where are you going?” Kai growled at Cole’s hand on his arm, halfway through the yard. “What’s wrong?” Kai huffed out a breath, motioning to the empty doorways on their right. Cole nodded, a grim look on his face. “Let us help you find them. We want Lloyd and Nya safe just as much as you do.”

The sky was lit up a harsh red and orange as they searched the surrounding forest, getting further and further from the monastery. Even Kai had to admit, the heat was getting ridiculous, and he was somewhat grateful for the setting sun. But it would be harder to find his sister in the dark…

It was Zane who spotted the two tents, nearly invisible under the canopy. By then, the stars had been out for hours, and Kai’s temper had only shortened as the time stretched on. The others milled about the camp, avoiding the unwanted job of waking up what was sure to be an irate Nya. Kai flipped the tent flap open, stomping inside. Muffled angry whispers filtered out, followed swiftly by two arguing siblings. Lloyd had popped out, surprised by the new company. He hadn’t seen Jay’s frantic signals to go back inside his tent, and then Kai had all but shouted at him…

When the sun came up three hours later, they still hadn’t found him.


	12. Trust in Me

“Who,” Lloyd sniffed. “Who are you?” A rustling sound circled around him, sliding under the thick roots. The voice hummed.

“Who are you?” Lloyd whipped his head around, trying to find the source of the rustling. It grew louder, surrounding the tree he was curled under. He caught a glimpse of something shiny sliding under a leaf before it was gone. “I have lived under these trees for many years…very rarely do I see such a young hatchling on their own…” The voice moved with the sound, never staying in one place for very long.

Lloyd paused. “Hatchling?” The voice chuckled, an odd whistling sound. “I’m not – I mean, I’m thirteen. I’m…” His voice wavered. “I’m not a baby.”

“Oh?” The voice grew louder. “As I said, it has been years.” Finally, the eyes once again peered up at him from between the roots. “My eyes may have aged more than I thought.” Lloyd knelt down to the ground, squinting into the dark. “Perhaps man has changed…perhaps…man has…grown wiser?” The eyes seemed to glow, drawing Lloyd in. The brilliant red painted the surrounding leaves, swirling around slit pupils. “Or…” Lloyd’s hand reached forward, sweeping the leaves off the forest floor. “perhaps…” His eyes read the weathered inscriptions, pressing down on the ancient symbols locking the voice away. The ground rumbled, shifting and shaking under Lloyd’s feet. He stared into the red eyes all the while, their glow wrapped around him.

“Perhaps man has only grown weaker.”

\---

The rumbling ground nearly sent Nya flying into Jay, the rocks and roots rolling around their feet. “What is this?” She turned to Cole, eyes wide. He shook his head, tripping over the unstable ground just the same as the others.

“This isn’t,” He nearly lost his footing. “This isn’t me!”

Zane twisted around, staring off into the trees. “This is not good.” He jumped into the branches, leaping over the rolling ground beneath them. Kai yelled after him, leaning against a nearby tree. Nya grit her teeth, jumping for a nearby branch and racing after him.

They jumped down when the branches became too dry and brittle, the leaves below them crunching far more than normal for late summer. Nya breathed out a sigh of relief at the sight of Lloyd standing in front of a dead tree, his head hung low. “Hey buddy, I’m sorry about Kai, he,” She cut off, held back by Zane’s hand on her shoulder. “Zane, let me go!” She tried to jerk out of his grip before taking in his grim look. “Zane?” He stepped in front of her, squaring his shoulders.

“Where is Lloyd?” Nya looked between him and Lloyd, confusion written on her face. Zane’s voice turned stern as he stepped forward. “Where. Is. Lloyd. I will not ask again.”

The boy shuffled his feet around to look at them, his head lifting up to meet their eyes. His eyes seemed dull, their usual red color faded. Wrapped around his hands was an odd misty trail, shifting and sliding over his skin. Zane’s voice dropped, concerned. “Lloyd?” He stumbled, walking towards them like he had to remember how. He lurched to a stop, like he’d reached the end of a string.

“Is that what the hatchling’s name is? Lloyd?” The interruption made Nya jump, the rustling and crunching of leaves coming from behind Lloyd. “Lloyd.” A figure stepped – slid out from behind him, straightening to a staggering height above even Zane. Its scales were discolored and dull, some odd patches of vibrant jewel tones peeking out down its tail. Tarnished gold and silver decorated its – his – shoulders and head. “Such an unassuming name…” His voice slid through the air, flat and low toned. “For the boy that changed the fate of Ninjago.” Nya’s heart leapt into her throat, blood rushing through her ears.

“You – you’re a-“

Zane spat the words out.

“Serpentine.”


	13. Left Behind

Zane leapt forward, drawing a dagger. The serpentine dove out of the way, dodging his slash. Leaves flew as Zane darted around Lloyd, careful not to strike the boy. He reached for a strike to his arm – only to roll out of the way as a fireball exploded out from behind him.

Kai burst out of the trees, screeching a battle cry as his katana sliced through the air. The serpentine was a blur, diving behind Lloyd and forcing Kai to halt his blade. The two danced around the boy, each trying to strike the other. The serpentine’s fangs glinted in the morning sun, drops of venom flying. Tendrils of smoke trailed from Kai as he tried in vain to injure the reptile. Lloyd was wordless as he was pushed and yanked as a shield. Kai swung his sword at the snake’s neck, only to barely keep from hurting Lloyd. Even so, a small rip sliced open on his sleeve while Kai snarled at his foe.

“Stop,” Kai stumbled around Lloyd. “Hiding,” The serpentine blocked his strike with a branch. “Behind,” He swept his tail under his legs, nearly tripping him. “A kid!” He swung his sword wildly, his strikes uncoordinated and sloppy. A wild swing sliced a nearby tree, sending Nya tumbling out of its way.

“Kai stop!” He whirled to face Cole, panting and spewing sparks with each breath. Cole’s scythe was drawn, and Jay stood behind him with a hand on his nunchucks. His face was drawn in a grim frown. Kai followed Cole’s look back to the serpentine, fangs poised above Lloyd’s wrist.

Kai growled. “Don’t you dare.” The serpentine had a lazy smile as he sheathed his fangs.

“I see no need to continue such…barbarous…activity.” He coiled his tail around Lloyd’s ankles. “Now…I wish to know of the world I have finally rejoined.”

Cole’s voice was measured and cautious. “We can tell you what you want to know, just let us have Lloyd.” The silence hung in the air. The snake hummed, considering the offer.

“I think not. Something is different with this hatchling, and not just the fact that he is smaller than you five.” Kai jumped in protest, Zane keeping a firm grip on his arm.

The fire elemental thrashed. “He’s not some toy you can steal, he’s a kid!” The serpentine hissed, flashing forward to level with Kai’s face.

“Do not lecture me about sovereignty and freedom, whelp.” He slowly retreated back behind Lloyd. “I know my history, and it is time you learned yours.” He scoffed at the script on Zane’s gi, rolling his eyes. “Wu’s pupils. Still trying to be a sensei, is he?”

“Sensei Wu is a patient master, and a good guardian to us all.” Zane’s voice was calm and level despite the sturdy grip he kept on Kai. The snake’s mouth twisted into a scowl.

“There is much you do not know about your sensei. Much you do not know about the history of your world, evidently.” The mist around Lloyd glowed brighter, along with the serpentine’s eyes. “I would ask your sensei,” He said the word with dripping disdain. “About how the ancient war truly came to an end.” He stared at Kai for a moment, the boy still spewing smoke with every exhale. “And perhaps teach that one to control his temper. I would hate to resort to something…rash.” His tail gestured to the still silent – too silent – Lloyd.

“Now that that nasty business is dealt with…” The five teens tensed. “I believe we’ll take our leave.” He began backing away, Lloyd in tow. “Do give Wu my regards. He was such a fool for thinking he could bury the past.” Kai stepped forward, stopped by the glare on the serpentine’s face. “I would suggest allowing us to go, hatchling. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to the runt.” His hissing faded as they walked away, Lloyd’s feet shuffling after him.

Kai sank to his knees, crushing dry leaves beneath him.

“This is all my fault.”


	14. Regroup and Restart

The sun was low in the sky when the teens finally set foot inside the monastery gate. They were silent, dreading the task ahead of them. Wu burst out from the main hall, meeting them in the middle of the courtyard. His face was worried and drawn, and he only grew more frantic as he took in the absence of his nephew. “Where is he? What happened?” All eyes shifted to Cole, who drew in a long breath. He let out a heavy sigh and led Wu away. As he and Wu talked, the others shuffled into the kitchen.

Zane silently set about making dinner, the clattering of pans echoing around them. Nya leaned on Kai, the day’s exhaustion finally setting in. Jay set his chin on the table, no energy to fill the empty silence. They all avoided looking at the conspicuously empty chair next to the head of the table.

Nya sniffed. “I should never have made him leave.” Kai wrapped his arm around his sister, shaking his head.

“It wasn’t your fault Nya, I shouldn’t have yelled at him.” He looked at the table, his face set in a regretful frown. “You guys were left out, and all I did was yell and call him stupid.” His voice grew quiet. “He wouldn’t have run off if I’d just…” Wu and Cole walked in, the elder’s face grim. Kai trailed off, avoiding Wu’s gaze. He jumped when Cole set a hand on his shoulder, looking up at the other boy.

“It matters not whose fault it was, only how we fix the problem.” Wu wearily sank into his chair as Zane came in with a simple stew. “Lloyd was taken by a Serpentine.”

Kai sat up. “About that. Sensei, he never said a word! He just let that – that snake yank him around!” Wu nodded. “It was like he was – “

“Under a trance?” The five teens all looked to their sensei, confused. “I admit, there is much to tell you. Much I did not think you would need to know this early in your training.”

After a tense dinner, Wu led them to the library, pulling several old scrolls off of their shelves. “Many decades ago, serpentine walked the earth. At first, the snakes and man were amicable, if uncomfortable, allies. They traded together, but the divisions were clear – the snakes lived in their burrows, and man lived in their huts.

“However, this was not to last. Man and snake both possessed a strong curiosity, and children even more so. It happened that a tribe of snakes extended their burrows to the border of a village, and their children played together. It seemed a blessing, as that village and burrow grew close. As happy as the children were, the elders frowned upon such fraternization. They grew restless, and decreed the children be separated as they once were – man and snake, companions no more.

“But they were overzealous in their venture. They drove the snake hatchlings from the village, in the dead of winter. The hatchlings nearly froze in front of their burrows, and the serpentine demanded retribution. The village denied any wrongdoing, and they came to blows. The conflict spread like a plague, infecting burrows and villages throughout Ninjago – becoming the Serpentine wars. Eventually the snakes were driven underground, sealed in their burrows for eternity.” Wu sighed, closing a scroll. “Or so we hoped. While man may have elemental masters, serpentine have other gifts. Lloyd was hypnotized, a powerful spell.”

“Sensei, is there any way to cure it?” Zane looked up from his own scroll. “I cannot find anything on the subject.”

Wu stroked his beard, considering the question. “I know of only one. Lloyd must hear the tone of a sacred flute. Only then will the snake’s hold on him waver. It should give you an opening to get him away from the snake’s influence.” Kai sprang up from his spot on the library floor.

“Well where is it then? They can’t have gotten far in a day!” He ran out of the room. Cole stood slowly, stretching his arms above his head.

“I’ll go try to catch the fireball. Can you guys get the actual flute out and make a plan?” He lumbered out of the library, yawning. They heard his voice echoing after Kai as he moved through the monastery.

“Sensei,” Nya asked as they filtered out of the library. “We do have a flute, right? We’ll be able to save Lloyd?” Wu paused in the doorway, nodding.

“We have the flute, Nya. Do not worry about that.” He watched as they all retreated to their rooms, Kai stomping off. He let out a weary breath, staring up at the stars.

“It will be finding him in time that will be hard.”


	15. I've Got a Plan

Lloyd opened his eyes with a groan, blinking at the surrounding darkness. He could hardly see anything. He went to brush his hair out of his eyes, only to be stopped by a thick coil of rope. “What…?” His eyes snapped open. He twisted back and forth, trying to get his bearings. Dirt filtered down on his head, and his feet kicked up small clouds of dust. “Where am I? Hello?” The tunnel seemed to swallow his voice, not even an echo returning to him.

A low chuckle filtered out from behind him. “Ah, little Lloyd is awake.” Lloyd jumped as his vision filled with scales and red eyes. “I do apologize, that hypnotic exhaustion is quite potent.”

Lloyd pushed himself up, squinting in the dark. “What do you want with me? Where are we?” He turned his head, trying to follow the sound of sliding scales.

The serpentine hummed. “We’re currently in my burrow. I needed some time to regroup – revenge does not simply happen on its own, you know.”

“The Serpentine Wars were centuries ago, everyone who fought and supported them is long dead.”

Another whistling laugh floated through the stale air. “What is your name, child? Your full name?”

Lloyd hesitated.

“I could always follow through on my earlier threats of poisoning you. I would suggest answering my questions before I grow impatient.”

“My name is Lloyd Garmadon.”

The snake looked him in the eyes again, a smug smirk on his face. “Garmadon? Then you of all people should know that some men are less…perishable than others.” Lloyd watched him slither around the tunnel, confused.

“What do you mean? What does my name have to do with that?” The snake was silent. “Did you know my father?”

The snake pushed him forward, sending him sprawling in the tunnel. “Come. We need to begin our journey.” Lloyd spluttered, spitting out dirt and trying to stand. “As to your father…I never formally met him.” His eyes narrowed as he turned to move down the tunnel. “However, I am very familiar with his morals.”

Kai leapt out of his bed, the sun peaking over the horizon. He double checked the packed bag at his doorway, setting it by the post just outside his bedroom. He raced to the kitchen, nearly smacking into Jay on the way in.

“Morning Kai! You ready to go find Lloyd? Sensei said it’ll be a long day ahead,” Kai listened to the energetic boy chatter as he made himself a quick breakfast. Wu had told them that the snake would likely travel underground as far as possible. Cole had looked apprehensive at that – out of all of them, he used his elemental powers the least in battle. He made good use of his super strength – Kai still didn’t know how on earth he had that power – but hesitated to do anything more than throw rocks at enemies.

His thoughts were interrupted as the boy in question entered the kitchen, trailed by an alert Zane. “Good Morning Kai. Jay.” Zane still seemed off to Kai, though it had changed from an unsettling off to a “Zane” off. His words were always precise, even this early in the morning.

Lastly Nya slunk into the room, blinking away sleep and sliding into the seat beside Kai. “Did Sensei say anything else to you all last night?” The boys all shook their heads, Jay’s usual smile fading. “Why do you think the snake took Lloyd?”

Zane piped up then. “About that. I did more reading this morning before breakfast on the Serpentine Wars. Sensei Wu mentioned the snakes being sealed away, but he did not say how.” He sat down and continued. “The burrows were sealed with an ancient spell, one that could only be opened by a human. Each tribe was sealed in its own tomb, to ensure that they could not band together, and the locations hidden from common knowledge.”

Kai scowled. “So you’re telling me it’s impossible to find?”

Zane shook his head. “Not impossible; purposefully hidden. I am not proud of this – “

“Wait,” Jay giggled. “All those times I tried to get you in on a joke, and this is what finally did it?” Zane frowned at him and continued.

“I checked Sensei Wu’s private collection while he was doing his sunrise exercise and found this.” He rolled a map out on to the table, ancient script written on it above six locations. “It took some time to translate the ancient text, but…”

Kai jumped up, grinning. “This shows every tomb! Look – we’re here, this must be what Lloyd found yesterday!” Nya studied the map, pointing to another tomb.

“This one’s the closest one from here. What does that text say, Zane?” He followed her line of sight, a thoughtful expression on his face.

“That tomb conceals the Hypnobrai tribe. And according to modern day maps-”

Cole finished the thought. “It sits right under the Birchwood Forest.”


	16. Swept Away

“I-it’s getting c-cold.” Lloyd shivered, his thin summer robe providing no protection from the frozen ground. The serpentine was silent as they continued through the tunnel. Lloyd had no idea how long they’d been traveling – they’d been underground the entire way, and while his eyes had adjusted to the dark, it made it difficult to track the time. “W-where are we going?” The snake had stopped answering his questions a long while ago.

Lloyd nearly ran into his captor when they stopped, the snake inspecting a large circle of inscriptions. “Come here, hatchling.” Lloyd trudged forward, staring at the glowing symbols.

“What are these?” He stopped short at one, smacked with a wave of déjà vu. “This…” He shook his head. “What is this?” The snake shoved him at the wall, impatient.

“It is a door, hatchling. Open it.” Lloyd looked up at the snake.

“This is why you took me? To open doors?” The snake snarled at him, throwing him to the ground.

“The ancient serpentine would hunt near clusters of man, looking for the very young to snap up. Don’t force me to conduct a history lesson, little Garmadon.” He sneered down at Lloyd, mouth curling over his name. Lloyd stared up at him with wide eyes as his words sunk in. He scrambled to the door, trying to remember Wu’s lessons on ancient Ninjago text. He hesitantly pressed down on the symbols, unlocking the passage. The ground rumbled, knocking him off balance and blinding him as the door opened to the surface. A blast of icy wind stung his face, snow shifting into the tunnel. The snake shoved him outside, Lloyd falling into the snow. He blinked as the sun seared his eyes, taking in his new surroundings. They stood at the top of a mountain, snow racing downward from the aftershocks of opening the tomb. The snake began making his way down, towards a sea of birch trees.

“Come along, hatchling. We have some old friends to see.”

\---

“The Birchwood Forest sucks.” Kai was shivering violently, a scowl on his face. As it turned out, the forest was the northernmost point of Ninjago, beyond a mountain range. Despite it being late summer, the temperature was rapidly dropping the further they went. Jay piped up, somehow shaking even more than Kai.

“A-a-actually we’re n-not e-even in the f-fores-st yet K-kai!” Jay’s breath was coming out in little puffs, the mist floating up and away in the cold air. “I-it sh-should be j-just over this-s r-r-ridge!” Kai huffed, a plume of mist billowing out of his mouth.

“Then this ridge sucks. Why couldn’t we get some sort of car for this? Even a bus would be better than trudging through this.” He gestured to the ankle-deep snow around them. “How much farther is ‘just over this ridge,’ Zane?” Kai turned ahead to their guide. “Zane?”

Zane paused ahead of the group, a concerned look on his face. “Something’s wrong,” he said. Kai rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, that’s why we’re out here. We’re missing Lloyd.” He jumped as Nya drove an elbow into his side, grumbling.

“Be nice.” She hissed. He scowled, rubbing his bruised side. Jay turned to Zane.

“W-what’s going on Z-z-zane?”

“There’s –“ His eyes widened as he looked up the mountain. A low rumble sounded above them, barely discernable. Cole looked up at the boy, confused.

“Zane, what’s wrong?” Zane bowled the other four over, tackling them into the side of the mountain. “Zane!” He shoved them into a small cave, ignoring their protests.

“Get down, there’s an –“ His voice was cut off by a wave of snow and ice, Cole and the others looking on in horror.

“Zane!” Nya reached out after him, held back by Kai.

“You can’t go out there now, you’ll be swept away too!” He kept a tight grip on his sister as they watched the avalanche. There was nothing to do but wait as the snow raced by.

Zane was caught in an icy slipstream, the snow washing him off the mountain. He sputtered and struggled to keep his head above the ice. His world was full of blinding white and biting cold – and then black, as the snow buried him.


	17. My Little Friend

Kai melted the snow as quickly as he could without burning the others in such close quarters. He and the others burst out of their shelter to a bed of new snow, a beautiful scene if not for their missing teammate. They stood, staring at the now still mountainside. The snow was untouched as far as they could see, with no sign of Zane anywhere. Kai took in a deep breath. “Zane? ZANE!” His calls echoed over the mountain back to them with no reply.

He turned to Cole. “What do we do?” Cole met his eyes. He looked at Nya’s concerned face and Jay’s shivering form. He set his mouth in a grim line, turning back towards the forest.

“We keep going. We look for Zane. We find Lloyd.” He helped Jay up out of the snow and offered a hand to Nya. They began walking forward as he stamped down a trail. “We bring them home.”

Zane blinked away the snow on his face. The sun was high above him, the snow reflecting blinding light back at him. “Jay? Cole?” He sat up. He dusted off his gi and stood up, taking in his surroundings. “Birch trees…” He put the mountain at his back and began walking. “I must have been swept into the forest itself.” The trees towered over the boy, reaching far into the sky. The ground was covered in snow. Zane’s tracks stretched far behind him as he walked.

“I hope the others survived the avalanche. Kai and Jay will not do well with too much snow.” His voice bounced off the snow back at him, mocking his solitude. “I hope I find them soon…” There was a biting breeze, turning his fingertips ice cold. The sky was clear, the blue so light it was nearly a gray-white. “If there is a serpentine tomb here, it will be hard to find.” The world seemed covered in gray and white, the trees all having lost their leaves and frozen solid years ago. The only sound was the crunch of his footsteps through the snow.

A piercing cry split the air. Zane whirled around to its source, a small black falcon alighting on a branch. He stared up at it, transfixed by its shiny feathers. “Hello little friend.” He smiled at the bird. It flapped its wings on the branch, hopping on its clawed feet. Zane’s smile grew. He flapped his arms back at it. “Do you live here? It seems a rather lonely place.” The falcon let out a harsh squawk. “Neither do I. I am looking for a friend.” The bird swooped at him, swiping at his sleeve. Zane jumped back in surprise. He ducked again as it turned down for a second pass, falling into the snow. It landed next to him on a fallen log, where it squawked again.

Zane stared at it in confusion. “What do you want from me, little friend?” It flapped its wings once more. “Show me the way.”

It took flight, landing ahead of him every so often. Zane raced through the trees, never taking his eyes off the bird. It seemed to fly forever, but Zane never tired. Finally, he caught up to the falcon. It gazed down at him, then swiped at a large tree in a clearing.

Zane walked up to it, running his hand along its smooth bark. “It feels…odd.” The tree was too smooth, too cold compared to the others Zane had passed. He kept feeling along its trunk, intrigued. “What is – “ He jumped back in alarm as a rusty screech sounded from within the tree. He watched as a door swung open from the trunk seamlessly. He turned to the falcon, the bird staring at him. “What have you led me to, little friend?”

He stared down into the tree. A spiral staircase led down underground into a pit of darkness. He bent forward as the bird landed on his shoulder. “Shall we?” He began his descent into the dark, one hand feeling along the wall as they went. His footsteps echoed up behind them, the taps fading as they went deeper. The door swung shut with a high pitched groan, leaving no trace but Zane’s footprints.


	18. Blueprints and Footprints

Zane felt a switch on the wall and flicked it on. He blinked as the room erupted into light. “What is this place?” The falcon jumped from his shoulder to a nearby perch. Zane stared at it in confusion as it let out a low whine and settled, suddenly becoming still. “Little friend?” He poked its wing. It fell with a clatter and the sound of clanging metal. “What are you?”

Dust clouds sprung up with every step he took. The room was cluttered, but no one had been here in years. The bed – a cot really – still had wrinkled sheets on it. A work table spanned the length of one wall, gears and loose wires scattered across it. An overturned can of oil left an aged stain across the stone floor. Scattered scrolls and files were spread out over a lifted dead, its legs and supports covered in rust. One was laid out on the work table, its edges torn and brittle. Zane walked up to the table, stepping over scattered screws and scraps of metal.

“What is this?” He lifted it by the corner, mindful of its age and fragility. The text was scrawled in nearly indecipherable handwriting, the ink dull and faded with time. Zane studied it, struggling to read the blueprints. “Project…Z?” His eyes drifted to a nearby file, the same scribbled title on its cover. He reached for a nearby lamp, leaving trails in the dust. He finally found the full blueprints, sweeping the tools off the table to make room for the scrolls. He stared down at them, reading the notes faster and faster. His eyes fell on the full illustration.

“This – this is – “ He sank to the floor, clutching the scrap of paper in his hands. It ripped apart in his hands, the full title fluttering to the floor.

‘Project: Zane’

\---

Lloyd stumbled through the snow, curled over his cold hands as best he could. The wind bit into his cheeks, his nose a bright red. “Finally here…” The snake’s words were sluggish and drawn out. They’d started their journey on the surface at a steady pace, but the last leg of their journey through the forest was slow going. The snake panted out his words, leaning against a large boulder. “If you would, hatchling.” Lloyd stepped forward, remembering his earlier threats. Once more he pressed the symbols, causing the ground to quake. He fought to stay upright through the cold and rumbling ground. The rock moved, revealing yet another burrow. The snake slithered in, grabbing Lloyd by the wrist on his way. “Come along, little Garmadon.” The deeper they went in the burrow, the higher its spirits seemed to be. “It’s time to meet those friends of mine.”

\---

Nya jumped up, face bright red. “I swear to the original master if I fall into a snow drift ONE MORE TIME!” The outburst sent Jay screeching up a tree. He warily climbed down as Kai helped his sister out of the snow while Cole watched, shaking his head.

“Nya if you’d just follow my trail – “ He cut off as the ground once again rolled beneath their feet, knocking the siblings together into the snow and sending Cole sprawling ahead of his trail.

Jay stumbled over the snow. “Cole this is getting ridiculous!” He leapt for a branch, pulling himself back into the trees. “Whatever we did we’re sorry! Please stop making the ground go wacko!” Cole frowned at the boy as best he could while the earth settled.

“This still isn’t me, zaptrap.” He pulled himself up, turning to two grumbling Smith siblings. “C’mon. We need to keep moving.” A gasp from Jay had him turning up to the trees. “Jay, you know I say zaptrap with all the care in my heart,” Jay cut him off.

“Not that Cole! Look!” Cole turned to where Jay excitedly pointed. He leapt out of the tree, sending up a spray of snow. “There’s tracks! This way!” The other three dashed after him.

Cole ran to catch up, yelling after the boy. “Wait! Jay we can’t split up like this, we don’t know what’s out here!”

Jay turned to face him, face split in a grin. “You saw Zane’s modern map! There’s no one out here!” He raced over the track. “We’re the only people here! That means – “

Cole broke into a smile as he realized. “These have to be Zane’s!


	19. I am Zane Julien

This burrow was colder than the last one. It was better than the outside without the bitter wind, but Lloyd shuddered at being trapped in the dark again. The burrow had closed back up behind them and shut out the white light of the forest, and he found himself stumbling blind. Only the snake’s slithering scales and breathing told him he wasn’t alone.

The tunnel echoed with the sound of rattling, sending Lloyd’s heart into a frenzy. A different voice floated out of the darkness. “Who has entered our tomb?” Glowing red eyes opened ahead of them. Lloyd screwed his eyes shut, the memory of nothingness still fresh in his mind. “Pythor?”

Lloyd could hear the joy in his captor’s voice as he greeted the stranger. “Scales, my old friend!” He let out a shaky breath and tried to calm his racing heart. “Ah, yes, the hatchling. Come here, Garmadon.” Lloyd was yanked forward closer to the second set of eyes. They looked him up and down in disdain.

“Garmadon?” They turned back up to Pythor. “He is not possibly – “ Pythor let out a laugh.

“No, I believe he is his hatchling, Scales.” Lloyd felt a scaled hand grip his shoulder. “Call it what you will, divine providence or luck, but I for one find it fitting.” Lloyd could hear the curling smile in Pythor’s voice.

He squirmed in the snake’s hold. “Why do you keep talking about my father?” He froze as claws dug into his shoulder. Pythor hissed in his ear.

“It would be wise to be seen and not heard, Garmadon.” Lloyd bit his tongue and nodded.

“I don’t get it!” Jay trudged around the huge tree in confusion. “Where did he go?” They had followed the tracks for the better part of the afternoon, only to find the end right in front of a wide tree trunk. Nya ran her hands along the smooth bark in confusion.

“The tracks just end here? Are we sure we followed them the right way?” She turned back to Cole.

He frowned. “It looked like he got attacked back in that clearing. And these tracks have all looked like he was running…” Jay kept racing around the tree. “Jay you’re going to fall over.”

Kai stomped up to it, dodging around Jay. “Well it’s not like something carried him off. Where is he?” He kicked the tree angrily, hopping on one foot as he collided with metal. Jay stopped cold while Kai cursed the tree into oblivion.

“Did that tree just clang?”

Zane sat curled on the floor of the workshop. The dust had long settled, and he stared at the crumpled blueprint in his hand. “What was Project Zane?” He mumbled. “A control panel?” He shakily felt along his jaw, finding a nearly unnoticeable button. He winced and pressed it. He trembled as his chest split open with a hiss. The shifting metal tore his gi. He scrambled to a cracked mirror lying beside the bed, and he stared into it. His chest was split open and his skin – metal shell – was lifted up and away. He studied the notes. “Who would put a memory switch in an android?” He gingerly pushed aside a wire and found a switch with a worn “M” scribbled above it.

“Hello, Zane.” The man’s smile was warm. “Are you finally awake?” Zane stiffly blinked and nodded his head. The man laughed and clapped his hands together while Zane took in his arms and hands. They were clean and worked perfectly. His eyes flicked up to the man again, who was grinning from ear to ear. He embraced the boy. “Welcome to the world, son.”

He opened his eyes to the blinding sun. His father had explained that with spring coming, they’d need to start getting ready to plant again. He watched as his father showed him how to prepare the garden, how to weed and water it. “Remember Zane, we work now so we can enjoy the harvest later.”

He carefully studied the martial arts scrolls his father had brought home. “You were built to protect those who cannot protect themselves.” He overcorrected and fell, knocking over some tools. Dr. Julien smiled, helping him up. “Perhaps some more practice, son.”

The memories flashed before him, flooding into his brain and searing his senses. Holidays spent with a kind smile, meals cooked together in a too-small kitchen. A calm hand performing repairs when snow got into his circuits one year, a stern voice reprimanding him when he grabbed an exposed wire. A gentle smile when he tripped over himself, a proud grin when he mastered a move. A father.

A sharp clang wrenched him out of his trance. He shot up, turning back towards the stairs above him. “Who – what – “ He stuttered. A screen clicked on, barely visible through the static of age. “Jay?” The grainy figure onscreen squinted into the camera. He turned away from it, shouting something at the ground. He heard a screech above him as the door opened. He looked down at his still open chest. “Oh no no no-“ He heard Jay’s voice echoing above him.

“Guys I think something’s down here!” He stepped back, slipping on the loose papers behind him. He fell with a thud and the clanging of tools falling around him. “Okay something is definitely down here!” Jay’s steps echoed down the staircase – he bounded down two at a time. “Guys it’s so cool! It’s like an old work…” His voice faded as he laid eyes on Zane. “ZANE!” He leapt forward, reaching for the boy. Zane held a hand up, stopping him short. “Uh…you,” Jay swallowed. “You okay buddy?”

Zane stared at him, chest heaving. Why was he breathing hard? Androids don’t need to breathe. Was something malfunctioning? Was he sick? Androids can’t get sick. He was an android. He wasn’t human. He had a father. A creator? Who was gone. Who was gone and dead and erased every memory of himself before –

“Zane, buddy, breathe!”


	20. Designation: Falcon

“What do you mean, you don’t know?”

“I mean that this is totally new, Kai, I,”

“HIS CHEST WAS OPEN. AND BLINKING.”

Zane blinked his eyes open. He winced at the bright light above him. His arm came up with a creak, and he stared at the open panel there. Open panel? He looked down at his chest. His gi was torn open above his belt, but his chest was closed again. When had that happened? He had opened it…to find his memory switch and…his eyes went wide. He had to get out, the others were coming down into the workshop and they’d see and –

“Whoa there, popsicle, slow down!” Large hands pushed down on his chest, and he looked over at Cole. “You’re okay.” Zane’s chest heaved as he stared at his friend. That’s right. He was his friend. “You’re okay,” Cole repeated. “Breathe.” Zane relaxed his grip on Cole’s wrist, nodding. “It’s okay. You’re okay. We’re all here.” He focused on Cole’s calm voice. He shakily sat up. Slowly Kai and Jay’s arguing came back into focus as his breathing evened out.

“Do I look like an expert here Kai? Half of these blueprints are destroyed, and the other half were written by a drunk chicken!” Jay’s arms were waving around the workshop while papers fluttered around his feet. Kai looked absolutely fed up with his answer, his arms crossed and smoke coming out his ears. Nya sat on the chair next to the work table, head in her hands.

“Jay, we’re not asking you to build another Zane, we’re just asking you to wake him up.” Cole gave a Zane a look that said they’d been at this a while.

He waved at them, one hand on Zane’s back. “Hey guys?” Kai kept badgering the smaller boy. “Guys.” Nya cut off her brother, calling him a rather childish name. “HEY.” The three whirled at him. Kai broke into a grin, all irritation forgotten.

“Zane!” The three leapt at him, nearly knocking him and Cole over. Kai held him in a bear hug while Jay was squished between them. Nya had her arms hooked around his and Kai’s shoulders, beaming. “We were so worried about you!” She stepped back from him, searching his face. “Jay called us down, and you were just laying on the floor,” She gave him a concerned smile. “We’re just so glad you’re okay.”

Kai caught the look in his eye. “Are you okay, Zane?”

Zane stared at them. His friends. “I…” He looked up at Cole, then down to his still open arm. “Jay did you find anything? In the,” He swallowed. “In my blueprints?” Jay rubbed the back of his neck. He gestured to the thoroughly covered work table.

“I’ve been going through them. Your builder – dad?” Zane nodded. “He wasn’t the most organized guy.” Jay handed him the initial page, the one with his name and skeleton on it. “And his handwriting…leaves something to be desired.”

Zane stared down at the page. “I suppose this explains why I never got your jokes, Jay.” He gave the boy a dry smile. Jay smiled back.

“I did find something that I think you should know about. It’s about some of your other switches.” Cole stepped away while the two poured over the blueprint pages, Jay showing Zane how to open and close his arm panel. He leaned against the wall while they worked, Nya helping Jay while Kai handed her various papers from the floor.

When Jay had screeched for them to come down, Cole had been prepared for something sinister. The snakes. Lloyd. The snakes without Lloyd, or vice versa. Then they’d found Jay nervously standing over an unconscious Zane, his chest panel open and various lights flashing red and blue at them. On one hand, he was relieved to have found their missing teammate. Skills aside, the thought of losing any of them…he shook the thought out of his head. But on the other hand…an android. Jay had breathlessly whispered the word while they lifted him up onto the cot, and Cole thought he’d seen it on some of the papers. Either that or Zane was a zeppelin. The man’s handwriting really was atrocious. It didn’t change how they saw Zane – he was Zane! But Jay’d found a paper with a memory switch, and Zane had been awful quiet since waking up. What if he had some sort of evil directive? Cole had seen those sci-fi movies with Jay. He knew how crazy people could be about androids.

“Yo, earth to the earth master.” Cole blinked at the brown hand snapping in his face.

He looked down at Kai. “What’s up fireball?”

Kai let out a sigh. “They say they’re ready to go find Lloyd.” Cole frowned. Kai threw up his hands. “I know, I told them, but,” Cole looked around the now empty workshop. “They already went upstairs. Bug found – “ Kai cut off at Cole’s snort. “What?”

“Nothing!” Cole grinned. Kai’s face dropped.

“You cannot tell my sister I called her ‘Bug’ in front of you.” Cole burst out laughing. “She will kill me!” Cole kept snickering all the way up the stairs. “She will! She’ll kill me dead!”

Jay, Nya, and Zane were all milling around the door when they came out, a bag slung over Nya’s shoulder. “So you don’t know what happened to your dad?” Zane shook his head.

“I remember bits and pieces – it is like I am still recalling information. Most of it is fuzzy.” Cole clapped his hands together, drawing their attention.

“We need to find Lloyd. It’s been almost three days. Zane,” The blond straightened. “Are you sure you’re ready to move on?” Zane nodded.

“I can keep on, Cole. Learning of my past does not change the goals of my present.” Jay nodded next to him, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

“Plus, I think I found something that might help! Zane, you should have this – “ He whipped out a page from Nya’s bag. “It’s a remote drone! Designation – “

Zane gasped, a smile spreading across his face. “Falcon!”


	21. Memories

Jay had had a field day examining Zane’s new…pet. The bird could remotely connect with him, sending back audio and video. The two had spent a solid half hour – well it could really only be described as playing – with it and learning how it worked. Nya laughed when Zane mixed up its direction and sent Jay flying out of a tree, a spray of snow getting sent up. Cole finally got them to focus long enough to do a search. They trudged along in the now while the bird flew overhead. Zane straightened, a hand on Jay’s shoulder to steady himself.

“The falcon’s found tracks – I think they’re Lloyd’s.” He screwed his eyes shut, concentrating. “There’s signs of the snake. The tracks are odd to say the least.”

Kai tapped his foot in the snow. “What direction, Zane? Where’s Lloyd?” They all stared at him. He lifted his hand, pointing east.

“He’s that way. The falcon’s found what looks like the entrance to a Serpentine Tomb.” They all started forward again, their energy renewed. They would get their youngest back. And they’d get him back soon.

They’d left him in this room hours ago. Well. Maybe not a room. The chamber was circular and barren. Lloyd sat curled over his knees against the wall. He picked at a scraggly root poking through the side, his eyes adjusted enough to see it against the dirt. He was still cold. The snakes had retreated further along the tunnel, promising he’d regret trying to run away, so he was left here, shivering. The odd breeze from outside would worm its way in, and his gi was getting uncomfortably cold and damp. The hissing voices had long since faded away, and he was left alone. All alone.

He’d been alone before. The others hadn’t always lived at the monastery, even before Kai and Nya had shown up. It had been so long…he’d hated it. Just him and his uncle, no one else. No one to talk to or make faces at during meditation, no one to spar with. No one to sneak him out and give him smores and hot dogs in the middle of the forest.

He was five when he found Zane. Uncle had forbidden him from entering the main hall or the courtyard. His world was limited to the training yard and his room, Uncle eating with him on occasion. He’d gotten bored with his latest drill and had snuck away when Uncle had gone to meditate. He snuck into the main hall, heart set on getting to the courtyard. Instead he had run smack into sturdy legs. Anyone else would have been knocked over, but not Zane.

“Hello. I am Zane.”

Lloyd had been confused, and a little bit frightened, by the strange boy. He’d mumbled out a reply, then ran off back to his room. But he’d snuck back the next day. And the next. And by the time Uncle had caught him, Zane was wrapped around his finger. Uncle relented, letting him have the run of the monastery. Meeting Zane brought him security.

Cole had shown up when he was ten. He was tall for his age even then and towered over the younger boy. He’d been moody when he arrived, silently following Uncle through the gate and immediately retreating into one of the empty rooms. Zane had shooed Lloyd away from him, but at that point no one could keep an eye on him all day. He’d managed to corner the boy in the middle of the night, extending a hand and introducing himself. Cole had scowled and walked off with his snack, but he had walked up to Lloyd the next day.

“I’m Cole. Wanna spar?” Lloyd had gotten his butt handed to him that day. What he had in technical training Cole made up for in size and strength. But he pushed him onward. Meeting Cole had brought him strength.

And then came Jay not long after. The boy showed up in as much fanfare as he gave everything else. It was the middle of the day, and Cole had just tossed Lloyd across the yard like a sack of flour. He looked up at a face full of freckles and wild curls. Jay had eagerly introduced himself, and he and Cole were fast friends. Lloyd was confused by his enthusiasm, but it was easy to get swept up in. Jay was mischievous and loved pranks, and that love was contagious. Lloyd caught him rigging a trick slice of cake one night for Cole, and the two were thick as thieves from then on. Meeting Jay had brought him fun.

He sniffed thinking about the others. He was the youngest. Sure, he wasn’t allowed to leave, but…that’d never bothered them. Then Kai had shown up, and Uncle kept sending them out on missions. At least Nya had been there too. Kai might be the master of fire, but no one could burn as fiercely or for as long as one of her grudges. That was why they’d gone out in the first place. Why they’d gone so far.

“Why did we ever leave?” Tears were streaming down his face in full force now. His breath came out in shaky huffs and his nose was running. It’d been so long – he was hungry, and homesick, and – and he just wanted his Uncle and his friends. Cole would wrap him up in a bear hug, they’d eat food made by Zane, and Jay would talk his ear off with worry. Kai would baby him for all of an hour before going back to teasing him, and everything would be good again. “I want to go home.” He whispered.

Voices filtered in from the tunnel, and he wiped his face on his sleeve. He scrambled to stand up – Pythor would want to move immediately to get away from this burrow and to the next one. As the snakes drew closer, Lloyd’s thoughts drifted again to his friends. He hoped they would find him soon.


	22. You Go Right, We Go Left

When they found the burrow, there were already tracks leading away. Kai didn’t even have the energy to yell. He just glared daggers at the gaping entrance while Zane ran some sort of scan inside it. Jay refused to go into the tomb, instead staying outside with Kai looking for other clues.

“What’s the verdict, icicle?” Cole leaned against the inside of the tomb.

Zane rose to his feet. “He was here, Cole.” His blue eyes seemed to shine brighter in the cave. “He was here. There are traces of water and salt – he was crying.” Zane turned around the tunnel. He and Cole were both brushing the ceiling, and he could touch either side without straightening his arms. “We need to find him.”

Cole nodded. “I know Zane. And we will.” He placed a comforting hand on Zane’s shoulder. “Any sign of where they went? Any clue at all?” Zane shook his head.

“There are indicators of multiple serpentine – they definitely released more snakes from this tomb. There is no sign of any struggling. He,” he sighed. “He must still be hypnotized.” The two exited the cramped space to meet up with the others.

Nya looked up at them from a map spread over a tree stump. “Hey guys. I took Zane’s map out.” They peered over it, the markers of the ancient tombs clearly written. “Trying to decide which one they would’ve gone after next.”

Zane pointed at a spot south of them. “Snakes are cold blooded, even the sentient ones. They may try to retreat to a warmer location.” Nya shook her head, frowning.

“That’s the problem. This spot,” she gestured to another spot to the east. “Is in the eastern desert. That’s plenty warm and the same distance.” She threw her hand up. “I can’t decide which one to go for. If we go after the wrong one, then they might know we’re after them and then take it out on Lloyd and,” Nya sighed. “I just don’t want to make the wrong choice.

“Then it’s a good thing we have more than two!” Jay walked up, trailed by a calmer Kai. “It’s not like we can’t survive if we split up. You said one was in the eastern desert, right?” Nya nodded slowly. “Well where’s the other one?” Zane gestured to the marker. “Then there we go! One team to the desert, and the other one to the rainforest. Problem solved!”

Kai leaned over at the map with a raised eyebrow. “Then who goes where, oh fearless leader?” Jay opened his mouth, then shut it with a contemplative look on his face.

Zane thought for a moment. “I suggest that you and Cole go to the desert, Kai. A master of earth and a master of fire would have no trouble in that environment.” He motioned to himself. “I have no recollection of ever being in such a hot environment, and my circuits may not react well to it.”

Cole folded his arms. “That leaves you, Jay, and Nya going to a rainforest. Can you guys handle that?”

Nya huffed. “Of course we can, Cole. You aren’t the only competent one here.” He threw his hands up in surrender.

“I didn’t mean it like that, Bug. I just meant – “

“Bug?” Cole froze at the sudden glare. Kai made a choked noise and immediately jumped behind him. “Kai. You did not.” Kai was rapidly shaking his head while Zane and Jay traded confused looks. “Kai Smith did he just call me Bug?” She tackled him into the snow, Cole dodging out of her way laughing. “Oh don’t you think I’m letting you go either, Cole!” His face dropped.

Jay watched the girl thoroughly stomp the two. “I’ve never seen anyone take down Cole…” He said in awe.

Zane shook his head. “In any case, I believe we will be fine, Cole. Jay has read the blueprints we found in full, and Nya has the technical ability to do any repairs I might need.” Jay nodded next to him.

“Besides, I think Kai might be in more danger from Nya than he would be from any snake.”

\---

The world was swaying under his feet. It had warmed up considerably since they’d left the Birchwood Forest, but Lloyd was still shaking. He felt freezing despite the sun shining on them. He kept coughing – his throat felt scratchy and stiff and he just wanted to curl up and lie down. His foot caught on his other ankle, sending him tumbling into the dirt. He sat there coughing and trying to catch his breath.

“Up, hatchling.”

His head was pounding.

“Now.” Pythor’s patience was nonexistent as it was, and Lloyd knew he was pushing it, but he just couldn’t. He was so tired.

“Pythor, the hatchling will be of no use if he is not conscious to open the tombs. We need…a human healer.” Scales was loathe to suggest helping the child, but the chances of them keeping a low profile with him hacking up a lung were slim. “He likely fell ill back in the forest. Humans are fragile that way.” Pythor whirled on the smaller snake with suspicious eyes.

“Would that be sympathy, Scales?” He glared down at him. “This human,” He snarled. “Is the son of the man who – “

“I am aware of his lineage, Pythor.” Scales met his eyes. “I merely meant to ease our own problems. Man is fragile, and its hatchlings are even more so. As much as I would like to allow him to perish, obtaining another will draw attention.” Scales backed away from Pythor, curling into himself. “We will be on the border of a town soon. If we send the boy to get treatment, then call him back, we can continue.” Lloyd’s stomach flipped.

“You’ll let me go?” Both snakes let out a whistling laugh.

“No,” Pythor answered. “You won’t even try.” He leveled with Lloyd’s face, his eyes glowing. Lloyd screwed his eyes shut.

“No,” He whispered. “I won’t,”

Rough scaled hands wrenched his face forward and pried his eyes open. “You don’t have a choice, Garmadon.”


	23. A Quiet One

They found him on the worn forest trail. A young boy collapsed on the road, running a fever and shivering like mad. Brad trailed behind his father as he scooped up the child and jogged back to their village with a grim look of concern. He watched as the boy was gently set on his bed with a cool cloth set on his forehead. His hair was a light, almost white blond, plastered to his head with sweat and water. If it weren’t for the fevered flush on his face, he’d be pale. Brad had heard about people coming down from the mountain with a fever and chills, but never one this young. No one in their right mind would let their child go near the icy ridge, let alone by themselves.

“Get your mother, she’ll know what to do.” Brad took off down the road to his mother’s clinic. Mrs. Tudabone was the village’s head doctor, if anyone could heal the boy she could. He looked about Brad’s own age. It made his lack of company even more concerning. He burst into the front room, bolting past the entryway and into the exam room. They were back at the house in minutes, his mother storming into the room like a hurricane.

And then they waited. And waited.

By the time Brad fell asleep on the couch, the boy still hadn’t woken up.

“Okay, yeah sure, but what if you could?” Zane sighed.

“Jay, for the last time, I can not simply take my brain out and put it into a computer. That is pure science fiction.” Jay shrugged as they walked along, his hands behind his head.

“Just saying, it would be cool! We could wire you into the monastery, you could be a smart house! A Zane house!” Nya laughed at his wild idea. Jay had kept the conversation fairly light along their journey to the rainforest tomb. He’d taken to theorizing about who Zane’s father was, and why he’d built him. “Maybe he was just lonely. I know I would be in the middle of that forest, down in the workshop all day.”

Zane had taken it all in stride, growing more relaxed as the day went on. “I believe he wanted a legacy. Something good to leave behind.” One memory had stood out from all the others. “He told me I was meant to protect those who could not protect themselves.” He smiled to himself. More of his memories were returning, each one full of warmth and care. He wanted to sit back and let them wash over him…but he had to focus on the task at hand.

They’d been traveling for the better part of a day, and still no sign of Lloyd. The others were relieved to have left behind the frigid forest, but the growing humidity was quickly becoming uncomfortable. Jay was already beginning to look a little red from the sun, and Nya had taken off her long-sleeved undershirt in the last town they passed through.

“Well I’m glad we’ve got you looking for Lloyd with us then, Zane.” Said girl was growing more and more relaxed as the weather warmed, but she was still tense. “We just need to get him home soon.”

Jay frowned at her sad tone. No matter how he and Zane insisted, it was clear Nya still blamed herself for Lloyd’s kidnapping. It had been her idea, sure, but who expects ancient snakes on a camping trip? Plus, Kai had been the one to send Lloyd running off into the night. But if they’d just been allowed to go on missions with the others…Jay let out a sigh. Really, they were all to blame for this. He just hoped they found the little guy soon.

“You’re finally awake.” Brad stared at the boy in surprise. When his fever had lasted through the night, he wasn’t sure the boy would last long. Yet here he was, sitting up and looking around, blinking sluggishly at his surroundings. He made to get up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

“Whoa hold on!” Brad pushed the kid back down. “If you get up before Mom sees you she’ll kill me.” The boy seemed to stare through him – his eyes were dull and clouded. They sent chills down Brad’s spine, despite how warm it was. He didn’t say a word, even as Brad stepped out to go get his mom again. When they stepped back in the room, he hadn’t moved a muscle. Brad hovered in the doorway, watching him suspiciously.

“Alright hon, put this under your tongue.” The boy slowly complied, that blank look never leaving his face. “At least it’s gone down…what’s your name, sweetie?” He was silent, just staring ahead. Mrs. Tudabone continued, checking on him and asking him questions. “Hey, I need to call you something. Where are your parents?” More silence. “You’re a quiet one, that’s for sure.” She rose to her feet, passing Brad in the doorway.

“Make sure he drinks some water, honey. His fever’s gone down…I’m going to check if anyone’s missing him around town.” He heard her mumbling about irresponsibility and parenting on her way out.

He stepped back into the room. The boy was still seated on the bed, staring into space with a blank expression. “If you’re scared of someone, Mom won’t tell.” No response. “You don’t have to ignore her. Or me.” Brad rolled his eyes at being ignored. “Or you can just not talk, and she’ll send you to child services in Ninjago city. Whatever.” He stomped out of the room. “At least drink the water on the table. Mom says you should be fine once you have some fluids in your system.”

He left the boy sitting on the bed, still staring. Lloyd’s eyes watched him walk away and shut the door, leaving him alone. His legs straightened and carried him to the window. His hands lifted it open and climbed through. By the time Brad checked on him later, he was gone without a trace, leaving only an empty cup on the nightstand.


	24. Desert Tears and Hissing Jeers

“You okay, fireball?” Cole frowned at the silence. The desert was hot, the wind hotter, and he could feel the heat from the sand leeching into his shoes. The rolling dunes were endless in any direction, and it’d been a while since he’d even seen so much as a cactus.

Kai hadn’t said a word since splitting up from the others. He’d been reluctant to leave Nya with the boys. She’d given him reassurances, rolled her eyes while he fussed and checked her pack. He’d looked over his shoulder until the others were completely gone from view. He’d kept the same stony look on his face the entire way, a far cry from the excitement Cole had seen not four – five? Days prior. The boy was spiraling. Ever since this whole thing had started, he’d been moody and short with everyone.

It was probably why Zane had not so subtly paired him up with Cole. They’d long figured out that he was better with feelings than Zane and better with words than Jay.

“You know, no one blames you for him running off.” Kai froze mid-step. “It was no one’s fault.” Cole watched the boy set his jaw and stomp forward through the sand. “Firebrand.” Kai’s silence continued. He crossed his arms and stopped. “Kai.”

“Why don’t you blame me?” Kai whirled around. “Huh? Why not? Because you aren’t supposed to? Because Wu raised you better than to blame the orphan kid for screwing up?” He kicked up sand around them, his voice cracking. “It IS my fault!”

“Kai, it’s not – “

“Don’t lie to me!” Cole stopped short, taking in the boy. His brown hair hadn’t been washed in a few days and was wilting around his face. Sweat and sand were streaked down his bare arms, his long-sleeved shirt tossed in his pack hours ago. He glared at Cole through teary eyes. His breath came out in huffs while his hands clenched into fists.

His voice wavered. “Don’t lie to me.” He repeated. “This is all my fault. I,” He let out a shaky laugh while Cole looked on in concern. “I left Nya out of our training and missions. I brushed him off.” He paced in the sand, counting off his transgressions. “I tracked them down in the middle of the night, when all they,” He hiccupped. “All they wanted was a night out, to have fun, and then. Then.” He sank to his knees. “Then I yelled at him.” He whispered, “They didn’t even go that far.”

Cole knelt down to him. “Kai, listen to me.” He stared down at the ground, watching tears hit the sand. “This isn’t your fault. You didn’t force him to open that tomb. You didn’t hypnotize him, or even send him to that snake.” He wrapped his arms around the smaller boy. “If given the chance I know you would have fought harder for him.” Kai resisted the hug, pushing his hand against Cole’s shoulder. “Lloyd knows that too. We’ll get him back, I promise.”

Kai huffed out a shaky breath, leaning into Cole. His shoulders shook as he let the boy hold him. They sat there, with the sun bearing down and the sand burning their legs. They’d get up soon, but for now…for now, Cole would sit here for however long his friend needed.

\---

Lloyd woke with a start surrounded by darkness. His head was pounding, but the freezing feeling was gone. Water splashed on his face again, making him splutter and cough. “Get up, hatchling. We’re moving on.” He looked around in confusion before catching the glaring eyes staring down at him.

Lloyd scrambled to his feet. “Where are we?” He watched Scales’ red eyes roll as they walked through the tunnel. “I thought – we were in the forest, when did – “

He nearly ran into the snake. “We’re in the tomb of the Constrictai, hatchling. We found you a healer, and you opened the door like a good little traitor.” Scales continued onward. “You humans are spectacular at betrayal no matter the age.” Lloyd felt the blood drain out of his face. He didn’t remember doing that. He’d been in the forest – he’d been sick. Now…he wasn’t exactly glowing, but he was better. He took a stuttering step forward. How much time had he lost? Another gap in his memory. Another snake tomb unlocked. It was happening more frequently now. First it had been for an hour or so a day – Lloyd would wake up to meager rations and water with no idea how he got them or when. Now…he was sure a day had passed. At least, for him to feel this much better.

“How did we – you,” He quieted at the glowing glares sent his way. Dozens of pairs peered out of the darkness at him, each glowing a shade of yellow or green. Voices hissed around him. Whispers bounced off the cave walls as they walked forward. Pythor’s voice echoed into the large cavern.

“We have found three of our burrows! Though the Anacondrai and Hypnobrai are small, with the Constrictai our numbers grow!” The hissing cheers were deafening, the crowd hidden in the dark making itself known. Lloyd followed Scales through the crowd, barely able to keep up with the snake by following his tail. Pythor’s chuckle bounced off the walls around him. “And here’s our man of the hour!” Lloyd was shoved onto a raised platform. He stumbled to a stop beside his kidnapper. Scaled hands gripped his shoulders again as his breath caught in his throat. “Our burrows were sealed, the key stolen from us! Now, we will take them back! This hatchling,” Claws dug into Lloyd’s shoulders. “Will be the key to retaking our homes! Tonight, we freed the Constrictai! Tomorrow, we free the others!” Lloyd was shaken with each statement as Pythor riled the snakes below them. The crowd’s cheers shook the cavern. Lloyd stiffened as a forked tongue hissed by his ear.

“And you are going to help us do it, little Garmadon.”


	25. Closer and Closer

Nya gazed out into the lush jungle around them. Jay had volunteered to go into the nearby town for supplies. Neither she nor Zane objected – they were both feeling a bit socially drained at the moment. She couldn’t help but think about what could have been done different. Sure, she was mad at Kai, but she’d brought Lloyd out into the forest in the first place. She let out a sigh. There was no denying the damage that bout of rebellion had done.

“Hey! Guys!” Nya winced at the loud crashing as Jay jogged up to them, snapping twigs and flailing through ferns. “I think I found something – or someone. Not sure.” Zane looked at him quizzically. “I mean – well. Come on.” He waved them on excitedly.

He led the two into the town, explaining the person he’d talked to. “The shop owner didn’t have any clue, hadn’t seen Lloyd at all, but there was this kid – caught him trying to sneak a candy bar, little rat – he perked up when I mentioned looking for him!” Nya tried not to get her hopes up – the kid could have been lying to avoid getting in trouble over his candy bar.

“And here’s the little guy!” Nya couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. The kid was Lloyd’s age, but the resemblance ended there. His arms were folded across his chest and he glared up at Zane with surly brown eyes. While Lloyd was prone to pranks and jokes, he was a sweet kid under it all and would willingly clean up the resulting carnage. This kid’s face was set in a wary scowl and his hair stuck out in all directions. “Alright kid, tell the pretty lady what you saw.”

The kid rolled his eyes. “The name’s Brad, in case you had any interest. And I didn’t just see the guy, he was at my house for a day.” Nya’s eyes widened.

“What did he look like?”

Brad shrugged. “Like crap. Found him passed out in the jungle on one of the old pathways. Mom’s the town doc, so we kept him holed up in the house.” He scoffed at Zane’s concerned look. “He wasn’t dying, he was just sick. I’ve gotten worse falling out of trees. Anyway, he didn’t even stick around for mom to give the all clear. He snuck out once he woke up.” Jay frowned at the boy.

“Did he say anything? Anything at all?”

He shook his head. “Nah. Was kind of creepy. Just sat there staring at the wall.”

Nya curled her hands into fists. He was still under that snake’s control then. She jumped when Jay set his hands on her back, guiding her away from the kid. “Thanks for that kid, here’s your candy bar, quit stealing and eat your veggies, all that – bye!” He hurried them away, through to the other side of the town. He flopped onto a nearby stump once they were out of earshot.

“Oh man Nya, I really thought you were going to deck that kid.”

She blinked at the curly-haired boy. “Why did you think that?”

Zane piped up. “Nya, your fists were clenched, as was your jaw. It did appear as though you were going to strike the boy, although I do not know why.”

“Well he was kind of a little jerk.” Jay shrugged. “But at least now we know Lloyd’s near here!”

“We know more than that, Jay.” He hopped up, joining Zane off the trail. “Snakes do not have feet – and these footprints are the right size for a young teenager.” Nya ran over, scrutinizing the prints herself. “I believe these prints belong to Lloyd. And it rained here not two days ago. Which means –“

Nya nearly leapt into the air in relief. “He’s only a day away! We’re getting closer!”

\---

“Here, hatchling. Now that we’re in a living burrow we can get actual food.” Lloyd eyed the meat he was given. Scales rolled his eyes, scoffing. “It’s cooked, Garmadon. Safe for man to eat.”

He looked up at the snake. “Why do you call me that?”

“Is it not your name?”

He turned to his meal. “Well, kind of. It’s more my father’s name.” He looked up at Scales’ huff. “And that. Why do you and Pythor hate him so much? The serpentine were sealed centuries ago, there’s no reason for you to hate a man born so long after.” He jumped at the hissing laughter. “What?”

The snake hissed out a chuckle. “You really have no idea, do you? Of who you are, who Garmadon is?”

“Is?”

He paused at the boy’s confusion. “What do you know of your father, hatchling?”

Lloyd looked up at him. “Not much…” He shrugged. “Uncle told me he left not long after I was born. We never heard from him, and Uncle acts like he’s dead. I know he and my uncle were not always good friends, but…all brothers fight, right? I mean, Kai and Nya argue all the time.”

“You know nothing of your legacy, little Garmadon.”

“Then tell me! Please, I – no one will tell me anything!” Lloyd’s face felt hot as he glared at his prison guard. “I can’t leave. I clearly have no choice in helping you create ‘snakepocalypse’ or whatever you call it.” His voice lowered as the hissing grew from beyond their cavern. “The least you can do is tell me why you seem to have it in for me and my father.” He looked up at the snake with pleading eyes.

Scales eyed him for a moment, slit pupils darting between the boy and the opening to the tunnels. “There is much to tell. Not all of which you will like.”

Lloyd huffed. “Not liking something is not an excuse for not knowing it. I’d rather be upset than not know.”

Scales chuckled at the boy. “Fair enough.” He curled his tail into a cushion. “In order for you to understand, you must know how the war started.”


	26. History Lessons

“When the world was young, man and serpent lived much closer. Man was industrial and built fine works of art and jewelry, while Serpentine were skilled scholars and astronomers. The two benefitted each other but did not break bread together.

“However, the world is ever changing. Children do not know of differences, only of friends. It so happened that in an old village the children began to play with the nearby hatchlings.” Scales stared into nothing as he recounted his story.

“They were imaginative little creatures, hissing through their teeth and crawling through the grass on their knees.” The snake’s voice turned bitter. “But their elders were not so curious.

“They declared the children unruly and undisciplined, and confined them within the village walls. But even that was not enough to dampen the children’s spirits. They snuck their scaled friends into the village, planning a grand night of fun and excitement.” Lloyd felt a chill roll down his spine as the snake continued. “They were found, of course, and driven out of the village. But it was late in the season, and the frost came early. Such young hatchlings could barely hope to survive such a drop in temperature, let alone the cold drizzle that was common to the region.” He looked back up at Lloyd.

“When all but two failed to return, the lines were drawn.”

Scales told him of battles waged, of lives lost, friends gone forever.

“What does any of this have to do with my father?”

The snake eyed him wearily. “We were desperate. We did not want to fight this war any more than the humans. So, we contacted a highly respected general.

“We told him that we wanted a truce. That we would willingly retreat to our burrows except to stargaze and trade in knowledge. At first, it seemed that he agreed. Pythor and I were going to meet him to discuss the terms of the truce.”

Lloyd raised an eyebrow at the serpent. “So why didn’t you?” Scales hissed his reply.

“We didn’t get the chance.”

\---

“We’ve been following these tracks for hours, what are we even looking for?” Jay was getting fidgety. Even with the day’s walk through thick jungle, the scenery was blending together. Except for – “Whoa Zane what’s that?” Jay pointed at glowing runes etched on a boulder. “Jeez, this thing’s almost as tall as I am.” Zane studied the runes, a dialect even older than that found in his father’s workshop.

“May you for centuries lie, in this your tomb, til the day you die.” He blinked at the grim message. “It would seem that this tomb was not one meant to be opened.”

“Well that’s creepy.” Jay stared at the green runes. He jumped at Nya’s stare. “What?”

Nya sighed. “Jay, it’s clearly a serpentine tomb! Zane, can we open it?” She huffed at his look of alarm. “Look around your feet, Zane. There are snake tracks everywhere, and Lloyd’s tracks are gone. There’s none leaving this place, he’s got to be in there!” He held her gaze for a moment before nodding.

“If you be man, and swear it true, then this tomb shall open to you.”

\---

“The meeting was to occur at dawn, on the border where it all began. We were to leave our weapons at the mouths of our burrows, and they at the gates of their village. We trusted the general’s word. He was an old friend, fighting due to circumstance and bad luck. All we wanted was peace. For our hatchlings to grow up safe.” His mouth curled into a sneer. “They came at midnight, led by none other than the very general we were going to discuss with in the morning. They struck like lightning, spewing their elements and shouting about betrayal and honor.” Scales scoffed. “Honor. As if that action had anything to do with the word.”

Lloyd sucked in a deep breath before asking his next question. “Who was the general, Scales?”

He knew the answer before the snake opened its mouth. “They called him Garmadon. A fierce warrior and a cunning enemy. A dishonorable man who fought with words and strategy as easily as with a sword. There was a time when I trusted him with my life.” His far away stare returned, longing in his red eyes. “They overcame us with their weapons and tricks. They demanded we hand over our leaders or risk their wrath. We had no choice.” Lloyd knew that if he were human, Scales would be close to tears. “I watched my father slither away that morning, his shadow falling over our tomb as the human sorcerer locked us away.”

He looked up at the snake with concerned red eyes. “I’m sorry.”

Scales stared at the boy in confusion. “I…thank you, L-“

“To the back tunnels! Where is the hatchling?” Panicked hissing filled the cavern as the ground rolled beneath their feet. Lloyd turned his head in all directions as he tried to stand.

“Scales, what’s going on?” The snake hushed him, shoving him along the tunnel. “Someone else opened the tunnel, who is it?” A passing snake stopped him cold. “Ninja?”

His heart jumped to his throat. “ZANE, COLE!” A scaled hand clamped over his mouth. He thrashed in its hold, refusing to travel down the tunnel. He screeched through it. “JAY!” Hands were on his arms yanking him along. “KAI! NYA!” It had to be them. It had to be! No one else knew about the snakes, about any of it. “I’M HERE!” His throat ached from yelling. He shouted above the hissing that surrounded him. They were here, they’d found him, he couldn’t let them leave!

“LLOYD!”


	27. Into the Tomb

Jay was going to have a permanently bruised backside at this rate. As soon as Zane started poking the glowy rock, the world pitched him this way and that. When the world stopped spinning, he was left coughing in the settling dust. Even this far out of the tomb, they could all hear the panicked hissing. He and Nya locked eyes before she dashed into the cave.  
“Nya wait!” He and Zane ran after her, dashing past pairs of glowing eyes. He smacked into a solid wall of scales and fell to the ground, knocking the wind out of himself. “That felt…great…” He paled at the sight of shining scales in front of him. “Oh no.”

A wave of ice washed over the snakes in front of him, freezing them solid. “Get up, Jay, we cannot afford to let our guard down here!” He scrambled to his feet behind Zane. They ducked and dodged through the snakes, racing through the tunnels. Jay could hear Nya screeching ahead of them – her shouts echoed around the cavern as she searched for Lloyd.

Jay shot off another round of sparks from his hands. “Zane, how are we even going to get him out of here?” He dodged a solid tail swinging for his head. “Do we even know he’s down here?”

Zane rolled out of the way of a tackle, spewing ice at their attackers. “I can sense something up ahead – a warm blooded signature. However,” A sudden punch to his side threw him across the room with a grunt. He jumped up, throwing the snake into a nearby tunnel. “However, I cannot discern what it is without a visual – and the falcon cannot navigate these tunnels.”

\---

Up ahead, Nya slammed another Constrictai into the wall. “Where’s Lloyd?!” She snarled in its face. She whirled around the cavern, the little training she’d had guiding her movements fluidly. “Tell me where he is, now!” Only panicked hissing answered her.

“ZANE!” The voice bouncing around the walls nearly knocked her off her feet. She turned around in the middle of the chamber trying to find where it came from.

“COLE!”

She took off in a sprint. “Lloyd?! Lloyd!” She was torn between listening and yelling for him. “Come on, buddy, where are you?”

“JAY!” His voice was strangled and cut off sharply. It kept fading in and out, like he was moving away. Nya stopped hitting the snakes, opting to just dodge her way through the crowd.

“Come on Lloyd, again, call us again.” She muttered. “I’m almost there, just one more shout.” She froze when his voice rang out again in the tunnels.

“KAI!” Finally, she reached a back tunnel, vaulting over the fleeing snakes. There! It was a different snake holding him – but oh by the first master, there he was! He wrenched his face away from the clawed hand clamping his mouth shut, screaming out her name. “NYA!”

Her eyes were wide. She nearly lost her voice at first. “Lloyd – LLOYD!”

When he heard that voice calling to him, tears pricked his eyes. “Let me go!” Earlier he had struggled. Now he desperately thrashed in the snake’s hold. “Nya! I’m here!” He would not let them keep him. They had stolen him from his family. They’d robbed him of his will, used him, dragged him all over Ninjago. This ended, now. His hands were clenched into fists, struggling against a clawed grip. “Let,” His eyes burned with tears. “Me,” The world seemed brighter, sharper, even through the blur of tears. The snakes around him began to back away. “GO!”   
The world exploded into blinding light.

\---

At first, Jay though Zane was short circuiting. Could androids do that? He’d never done it before. The caverns erupted in light, the bright green color burning itself into his eyes. Once he blinked the burning spots out of his eyes, he helped Zane back up, coughing through the settling dust. “What was that?”

Zane shook his head. “That was not me.” He blinked, his left eye sparking. “Whatever it was, it had a massive energy surge. My scanner is down.” He looked around the room in a daze. “At least it seems to have stunned the snakes.” Jay’s eyes widened.

“Zane, we’re at the front of the tunnel! We have to find Nya! She could have gotten hurt!” The two took off down the tomb. “Nya?”

Jay’s voice was met with silence. He and Zane shared a worried look as they dashed through the serpentine tomb. “Nya!” He called after her. “Where are you?”

“Can you hear us?”

\---

Nya was silent with shock. She’d been knocked flat on her back when Lloyd had screamed at the snakes. The shout had been loud enough that her vocal cords hurt for him. The entire cavern had lit up green, and the next thing she knew, she was sitting up surrounded by unconscious snakes. She scanned the room. The floor was a sea of scaled skin and metallic armor. Except for a spot at the back of the crowd. ”Lloyd!” She scrambled to her feet, tripping over stray tails and limbs. He was sprawled over the snake that had been holding him. His training gi was torn and stained in places, his knees scraped through a hole in the fabric. “Oh Lloyd…” She gingerly cupped the younger boy’s face, a bruise blossoming on his cheek from his sudden drop. “I’m so sorry.” His eyes fluttered, a green glow seeping out from below his eyelids. “You’re okay buddy. You can rest.” She scooped him up, the action easier than it should have been. “Let’s get you out of here.”

\---

They met a concerned Zane and relieved Jay in the tunnels.   
“Thank goodness you’re both okay!” Jay exclaimed.  
“Initial scans show he is in no danger, but we need to get him to a doctor soon.” Zane reported. “Once we have reached the village, I can contact Cole and Kai.” Nya nodded, and the group made their way out of the snake tomb.


	28. Home Again

It was Cole who spotted the falcon first. Its cry broke through the quiet of the desert, jolting Kai out of his thoughts. He scrambled down the dune to where it landed. “What is it? Do you think something happened?” His brows furrowed. “I swear if Nya’s gotten hurt –“ Before Cole could answer, the bird beeped and opened its beak. Zane’s garbled voice filtered through.

“Kai? Cole?”

Kai’s eyes grew wide. “Zane?!”

“Good, the transmission is quite clear.”

Cole folded his arms. “What’s going on, Popsicle? We’re running out of time and this desert is huge. We still have no idea where that tomb is.” That had been the most frustrating part. The desert was seemingly endless, and there were no landmarks to judge distance. Even their footprints faded quicker out here.

“That’s why we sent the falcon, Cole. We have Lloyd!” Kai sucked in a breath. He didn’t hear the rest of the conversation. Cole’s exclamation and resulting hug around Kai’s shoulders didn’t even register to the fire ninja. They had him. He was coming home. He was okay, unharmed…they had Lloyd.

Cole’s hand shaking his shoulders jolted him back to the task at hand. “Kai, they found him! We can head home!” Kai echoed his words to himself.

“We can go home.”

Cole stared at him for a moment. “Hey, Firebrand, you okay?” Kai nodded absently. “Remember what I said, it’s okay. We have him back now, everything’s okay.” He shakily looked up at the taller boy, nodding. Cole wrapped an arm around his shoulders, turning them around. “Good. Let’s get home.”

\---

They’d managed to trek all the way back to the village, and Lloyd still wasn’t awake. Once the adrenaline wore off, Nya had handed him to Zane, but the movement never fazed him. She hoped he was just too tired, but she couldn’t ignore how light he was. He was only gone for a week, how much weight could he have lost?

They brought him to the village doctor, a woman who paled when she saw three teens carrying a very unresponsive young boy. They were all surprised to find that she’d not only recognized him but had treated him for a very high fever just a couple of days prior. That had sent the color draining out of Nya’s face. According to Dr. Tudabone, Lloyd had been in bad shape. Not that he wasn’t in bad shape now…

“Well, I can’t say I approve entirely, but you do seem eager to go.” The woman sighed. “You’ll have to be careful with him. He’s exhausted. That infection wasn’t even fully healed when he snuck out of my son’s room, and it could still come back.” 

She followed them to the edge of the village, double checking their packs and Zane’s map. “If you ask me, you’re far too young to be out here alone. But he needs to be somewhere stable – if your monastery is such a place, I won’t stop you.”

\---

Kai thought Wu was going to explode. The man was pacing throughout the monastery – which was practically sparkling it was so clean – as they waited for the others to get back. Somehow, he and Cole had reached home before the others. Zane’s falcon had flown off, presumably to find its master. It was nearing sunset when three tired silhouettes came stumbling into the gate. They hadn’t even stepped into the courtyard when Kai and Cole were running up, the latter taking Lloyd from Zane.

Kai turned to his sister. “What happened? Are you okay?” She leaned into him as they all filed into the main hall.

“It’s a long story.” They sank into the dining room chairs while Zane and Wu went to settle Lloyd. Kai started combing his fingers through her hair while Nya filled him in on the tomb, the desperate chase through the tunnels, and the strange light that ended it all. “It was crazy Kai. One minute, we were surrounded by snakes, the next…they were all out. Poof.” She snapped her fingers.

Kai finished out the braid along her forehead. “It sounds like something to ask Wu about.”

Nya snorted. “Yeah, as if he’d give a straight answer. I’m still waiting to find out why he showed you your fire powers in the first place.” She caught her brother’s guilty look. “What?”

“About that…” Jay burst into the room, his hair still wildly bouncing around his head.

“Zane says we can come in now!” The two were up in an instant, racing to Lloyd’s room. Kai was shaken by how still he was on the bed. It looked like Zane hadn’t had a chance to comb or wash the kid’s hair – the normally light strands were streaked with dirt and bits of dried leaves. There were big bruises around his jaw, like someone had grabbed him there. His hands rested on his blanket, wrists sporting similar marks.

Kai felt his blood boiling as he stared at the purple and green streaks on Lloyd’s wrists. He jumped when an arm wrapped itself around him. “You’re spewing sparks again, Fireball.” Kai felt his face heat up as he patted out a couple of embers on his sleeve. “Don’t want to toast the little guy before he wakes up.”

Lloyd’s eyes fluttered open, the green glow having died down since coming home. “Nya?”

All five of the older teens jumped to the bedside. “Lloyd!” He winced at the sudden sound, bringing a hand up to brush hair out of his face. Zane hushed them all, handing him a glass of water. “We were very worried about you.”

He looked up at them all guiltily. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have run off, I – “ Tears welled up in his eyes. “I’m so sorry – “ Kai cut him off with a hug, his own voice choked up.

“It wasn’t your fault.” Lloyd latched on to the older boy, gripping his gi. The others quickly folded around them, wrapping them both in a tight hug.


	29. Old Legends

Lloyd was sleeping again when Wu called them all into the kitchen for a meeting. Kai and Nya were both hesitant to leave him, even if he was only a room away. He’d been so exhausted after the ordeal that he’d fallen asleep quickly after their reunion.   
When they entered the kitchen, Jay was nearly asleep on his feet, having to be nudged awake by Cole every second or so. Kai himself was pretty drained, the exhaustion of the week setting in. He took in a deep breath, leaning against the counter next to Zane. It was Cole who broke the uneasy silence.

“What’s this about, Sensei?”

In the time he’d known Wu, Kai hadn’t seen him act truly “old”. Wise, supposedly. Knowledgeable, sure. But not old. But now, lit by flickering lights and Jay’s occasional static, he looked absolutely ancient. His eyes were dimmer, his shoulders drooping. His voice was tired as he answered Cole.

“I fear our task is not yet done.” Jay stopped mid-yawn while Nya sat up straighter on her stool. “Lloyd told me he and Pythor visited two other tombs – the last one imprisoning the Constrictai tribe. I was concerned when Pythor kept him, but opening the other tombs is a sure sign.”

Kai was getting impatient. “A sure sign of what?”

“Of disaster.” The old man pulled a scroll out of his robe, opening it on the table in front of them. “Before the Serpentine Wars, before man and snake were uneasy allies, before time…there was a legend. The serpentine revered it, and man feared it. The legend told of the mother of all snakes, a giant serpent that could swallow a fleet of ships whole.” The weathered old parchment had yellowed, but its illustration was still clear. A sickly colored serpent, encircling the world.   
“The snakes told legends of the serpent, whose venom could carve canyons and whose bite could poison souls. They said it ravaged the land, until a daring prince sealed it away. The snakes vilified the young man and prophesied their matriarch’s return. They swore that she would once again trample over man and snake alike.”

“They called it the Great Devourer.”

\---

“YOU LOST HIM?!” Pythor’s enraged voice reverberated through the cavern. Scales flinched at his volume, the Anacondrai’s tail thrashing around the both of them. “I am bringing about a new age of Serpentine rule, avenging our fallen leaders, and you LOST THE KEY TO UNLOCKING OUR TOMBS?!” The purple snake was livid as they ventured through the tunnels.

“We can acquire another child. We did not need that one – “ Pythor whirled on his companion.

“That was not the point,” he seethed. “The point is vengeance!” The wall crumbled as he slammed a scaled fist into it. “The father is nowhere to be found, that boy is the closest thing we have.” He paced in front of the smaller snake. “Or did you want your father to stay in the cursed realm?” He hissed. Scales cast his eyes down. “This will slow our plans considerably.” The bigger snake began to slither away down the tunnel, Scales trailing after him.

“They will be on guard now. He won’t simply stumble upon us a second time.” The two disappeared into the depths of the tunnels, the wind above howling so loud that Scales could hear it reach into the ground.

“I will have my vengeance, Scales. And you are going to help me get it.” Scales blinked at the sudden spark and flame in front of him. 

“What vengeance? Forcing the child to undo his father’s mistakes will not do much.” He warily eyed the other snake.

“Our ancestors knew many things. They studied the stars, and predicted things not yet come to pass.” The dancing flames made the etchings in the cave walls dance, their shadows eerily jerking this way and that. “One such prophecy was that of the Great Devourer.”

Scales whipped his head around to Pythor. “The Devourer is but a legend! And a horrifying one at that!”

Pythor’s mouth curled into a smile. “I’m counting on that, Scales. Legends are often founded in truth, my friend. And this one has more than a drop of it.” They both turned up to the ancient etchings. Pythor ran his hand over the runes as he continued. 

“When the five tribes are once again one,   
Only then can the Devourer’s will be done.   
Four fanged blades thou must forge;   
From silver fired in the Starscryer’s gorge.”

Scales stared at the wall’s cryptic message. “What does it mean? The starscryers never lived in gorges, they sought out empty land.” Beside him, Pythor hummed.

“Either way, we will need materials. And we will need the other two tribes. The Fangpyre and the Venomari will more than double our numbers. Even if we knew where the forge was, it would be useless without all five tribes.” He extinguished the flame. “Either way, we know where to go from here. We’ll need to get the child back. I intend to do this right. Perhaps the tomb of the Venomari will yield answers. Their keen eyes served as our top astronomers for centuries. Most of these prophecies came from them.”

Scales tore his eyes away from the wall. “How will we hope to control it? The Devourer was monstrous. It completely destroyed the land, for snake and man alike!”

Pythor’s red eyes gleamed in the dark tunnel. “We’ve been underground for centuries, I see no reason to fear the destruction of the surface. Let man burn away. When the Devourer is finished, we will reclaim our stolen ground.” He turned back to the entrance, leaving Scales frozen in front of the wall.

He brushed his claws along the wall again, feeling the ancient words against his fingertips. “Father help us…this desperation may be our undoing.” He stepped away from the wall. He trailed after Pythor as his mind wandered. “For all our sakes…may this foolhardy plan fail.”


	30. Taking a Breather

It was official. They were stalling.

All of the teens felt a little guilty as Lloyd slept through the better part of the following days. At first it had been concerning, but they all let out a sigh of relief when he woke up and wolfed down dinner. Sure, he’d immediately crashed again – at this rate his bedhead would rival Kai’s – but it at least proved that he was just catching up on much needed rest.

But that didn’t change the blanket of unease resting over the monastery. They still hadn’t told Wu about the big green light. Nya didn’t want to admit it, but she knew it came from Lloyd. It honestly scared her. Kai’s fire was an element, that was easy enough to understand. But that light…what element glowed green like that? And Kai’s eyes never glowed like that…the whole situation had her unsettled.

And then there was the legend Wu had told them. A serpent that could eventually devour Ninjago itself…she shook the thought out of her head. It was better to prepare and prevent the snakes from summoning it in the first place. She worried her lip as she mentally listed all the supplies and training they’d need.

Jay’s voice interrupted her runaway thoughts.

“Hey, Nya!” He had a bright grin on his face when he popped into her field of vision. “Lloyd’s finally getting up out of bed.” He continued. Nya slowly sat up from where she was sprawled on the living room couch. “We’re all kind of curious to see if we can recreate the green light from the snake tomb and-“ He distractedly offered a hand and yanked her up from the couch, causing her to pitch forward with a surprised grunt. The two tumbled to the wood floor with a crash.

Nya sat up, rubbing her elbow where it had crashed into the floor. Jay sprang up, spouting apologies and offering her another help up.

“Oh man Nya I’m so sorry, I must just be used to helping up Cole, he’s just so much bigger – not that he’s y’know, too heavy for me or anything, or that you’re tiny, it’s just – “

She cut him off with a smile. “Let’s just go find Lloyd. You said he was getting up, right?” Jay nodded, his freckles covered by a blazing blush. He led her out to the training yard where Zane was supervising Lloyd doing stretches.

Nya smiled at Lloyd’s filled out cheeks. Just a couple of days being back home had done wonders for him. He was a far cry from the passed out ragdoll she’d carried out of the serpentine tomb. That was something she never wanted to repeat.

Lloyd’s frustrated voice got clearer as they entered the training yard. “Zane, I told you. All I remember is hearing Nya calling for me. One of the snakes grabbed me and then…poof. I was home.” He rose to his feet. “Now please tell me that I can start training again. I feel like I’m going to explode!” He shifted from foot to foot as Zane gave him a scan. “Zane…” the thirteen-year-old whined.

The nindroid gave a nod of approval. “You can train for today. But no sparring, and nothing too strenuous.” The blond rolled his eyes at the restrictions and turned to Jay.

Jay shook his head. “You heard him Lloyd. Taking it easy til we have the all clear.” His grin returned as he continued. “Buuut…maybe we can get you to go glowy again!” Lloyd stared at him with raised eyebrows. “It was so cool, dude, one minute we were up to our ears in snakes, and then suddenly they were all out cold! It was crazy!” He wiggled out of Jay’s grip on his arm as the lightning elemental went on. “I wonder if it’s another element. Sensei Wu said there were others, but it doesn’t make sense that he wouldn’t train you to handle yours. He had to go find us, but he practically raised you, hiding it makes zero sense.”

“Jay…” Lloyd grumbled.

“To be fair, he’s really bad about not talking to people. I am too, but it’s only because I forget to, not because I’m trying to be mysterious.”

“Jay.”

“Oh that reminds me, Wu wanted to talk to you about the nindroid thing Zane.”

“Jay!” Lloyd finally broke through the boy’s ramble. “I don’t even remember doing that. How exactly am I going to do it again?” Jay pressed his mouth shut into a frown. He hummed, tapping his finger against his cheek. He bounced on his feet and ran off. “Jay?” Lloyd called after him. He turned to Nya with a confused look.

Jay came running back out of the storage room brandishing a lightbulb. “I got it!!” He held a box of them under his arm as he raced up to the group. “It’s how Wu convinced me that he wasn’t absolutely bonkers.” He tossed the box to Nya before turning back to Lloyd. “Turn on the light, young padawan.” He drawled in a wavery voice.

Lloyd stared at the lightbulb and gave Jay an unimpressed look. “Seriously?”

“Turn on the light Lloyd.”

“Jay this is nuts. Did you eat cactus again?”

“Turn on the light.”

“I’m not a lightning master Jay, I can’t just say, ‘let there be light,’ and –“

Cole’s voice echoed across the yard. “Check you out, Mini Me!” Lloyd’s eyes widened at the clearly glowing lightbulb in his hand. He ignored Jay’s smug grin in favor of laughing at his success.

He ran up to where Cole and Kai had taken a break from sparring, waving the still glowing bulb. “Kai check it out! Look!” His laughs had the entire group grinning as he all but danced around them. “This is so cool! Does this mean I can go on missions now? I have powers, I can help!”

They all jumped when the bulb cracked and shattered with a pop. Jay stopped short, eyes wide.

“Whoa Lloyd…that didn’t happen with mine.”


	31. Family Matters

“It was so cool Uncle!” Lloyd’s excited chattering was the highlight of dinner. He barely ate at all with how much he spoke. “We actually went through all of Jay’s lightbulbs!” The older boy grumbled into his soup about having to visit home for more. Nya patted him on the back while Lloyd excitedly continued.

“Why didn’t you tell me I was like the guys?!”

The excitement and chatter of the table ground to a sudden halt. Wu felt six pairs of questioning eyes boring into him. He pressed his lips into a tight line. Lloyd opened his mouth again, and Wu rose to his feet.

“I have some research to attend to this evening. Good night.” He could feel the children staring after him as he retreated.

The teens were left confused at the dinner table, eyes still on the empty doorway. Kai spoke up first.

“Okay, I know he’s secretive, but that was plain weird.” He stabbed at a potato floating in his bowl. “Why dodge the question like that?”

Zane attempted to keep the peace. “Sensei Wu is often secretive. It is possible that he simply does not know the answer.” Kai rolled his eyes, gesturing with his spoon towards the doorway.

“That was not ‘not knowing the answer’,” he spoke around a mouthful. “That was straight up keeping secrets.” Nya nodded next to him with a frustrated frown. “He told me the day after we met. Even intentionally pissed me off to prove it. Why wouldn’t he tell his own nephew about it?”

Lloyd picked at his food. Kai had a good point – by the time they’d reached the monastery, Kai could light whatever fire he wanted. “Lloyd?” Cole’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “You okay little buddy?” He looked up at the older boy. His normally red eyes had been cloudy ever since they got him back from the snake tomb. He opened his mouth to speak, then shut it again. Cole pressed him again. “Lloyd, something’s bothering you, what is it?”

He set his spoon down. “In the tomb…” Kai and Jay stopped their speculating. Lloyd shrunk under the attention. “In the tomb, one of the snakes told me about,” he avoided their questioning eyes. “About my father.” He flinched when even Zane was surprised. “And it wasn’t great. They said he betrayed them.” His eyes burned. “That he attacked without warning when they were supposed to meet for peace.” He looked up at the five faces staring at him in concern. “What if that’s why?”

“What if he thinks I’m bad, like him?”

\---

“There has to be something else!” Wu threw the scroll down as he shoved his chair back. He paced around the library, scrolls and books strewn around his feet. He paused by the window, staring down at his nephew and the older teens in the training yard. “I promised Misako…it can’t be him.” 

He thought back to when his sister in law had come to his monastery, all those years ago.

\---

“How – Misako, how long?” The red-haired woman in front of him shook her head. She kept a hand over her stomach, the bump not even visible yet.

“I only figured it out a couple of days ago, Wu. I,” She shrugged. “I didn’t know who else to turn to.” The two sat in silence for a moment. “What do I do?” Her voice quivered. “If this were only four months ago, Garm would be over the moon, but…” Wu nodded solemnly. “And…” She hesitated.

Wu placed his hand over hers. “What is it?” She squeezed back, taking in a breath.

“I found something – I think your father wrote it.” She handed him a weathered scroll with trembling hands. “I’m worried it might be about…” She swallowed. “About the baby.”

He shook his head in confusion. “Why? Father’s writing was always vague, and nothing has come to pass yet. Why do you think it refers to your child?” Misako folded her arms, curling in on herself. She looked up at Wu with tired green eyes.

“Your family is always at the center of these things, Wu.” Her voice turned bitter as she continued. “I thought maybe I could avoid it. Bring some normalcy to you and Garm.” She shook her head. “Now I’ve just brought an innocent baby into this mess.”

\---

She stayed until Lloyd was a year old. Misako was an adventurer at heart, and she’d been obsessed with the scroll she’d found. She packed a small bag, leaving Lloyd in Wu’s arms with a last kiss. He watched her leave the monastery that day, her red hair trailing behind her in a tight braid. He stashed away all the photos, and simply told Lloyd that he was his uncle. He couldn’t find it in him to explain what had happened.

And then the snakes managed to force the boy to unlock power Wu had prayed he wouldn’t have, causing him to ask questions Wu couldn’t begin to answer. Misako would be horrified.

He hadn’t known what else to do – he just ran out of dinner like a child. He retreated to his study, pouring over his notes and scrolls. Before he knew it, it was morning again. The old man let out a sigh, running his hand over his white beard. “There has to be a way to know for sure – to prove it isn’t him.” He eyed the weathered writing desk in his study. “Father’s notes surely…”

He carefully unlocked the top drawer. He scrutinized the rolls of parchment within, each labelled with neat handwriting. “The golden weapons…” He pulled the scroll out, spreading it across the desk. It was a beautifully illustrated scroll, gold and black ink glittering on the page. The illustrations showed four weapons – a scythe, a katana, nunchucks, and twin shurikens. He sat down to read it, taking in the notes studiously. He poured over them again, heart racing. He shot to his feet, rushing out of the door. Perhaps there was hope yet.


	32. A New Mission

“Alright Green Bean, one more time!” Lloyd pouted up at Cole from where he’d landed in the dirt. He let the older boy pull him to his feet, grumbling.

“What’s with the new name, Cole?” He dusted himself off.

“Dude your eyes still look cloudy from the tomb incident.” Cole shrugged. “And you’re kind of the size of a bean, even compared to Jay.”

“Hey!”

“It’s true, Sparkplug, don’t deny it.” Lloyd giggled at banter. They’d woken him up at sunrise that morning, which kind of sucked. Until the boys had lined him up with them, showing him the meditative stretches they all moved through each morning to “tune in” to their elements. Zane critiqued his form, while Jay gave him a running commentary on what each stretch was for and how long he needed to hold it. Now Cole and Kai were helping him learn how to only use tiny bursts of it. Cole had the most skill, while Kai still needed the practice.

“Alright, one more time, c’mon!”

He squared himself in front of Cole, jaw set. He watched as Cole took a steady stance, the earth beginning to rumble. Three small rocks rose up and flew at him. He ducked one and took aim at the next, determined eyes starting to glow. He punched at it, a green sliver of evergy following his fist. It sliced through the stone, creating two projectiles. Lloyd cried out as one swiped by his face and the other slammed into his thigh. He swung his arm out wildly, a green flash lighting up the training yard. The hard ground slammed into his back, and he heard someone else shout. He laid there wheezing and coughing on the settling dust.

“You okay, little guy?” Kai picked him back up and turned to Cole. “What in the first master’s name was that?”

“Kai, he just overcorrected and fell, he’s fine.”

“Fine! He got the breath knocked out of him!”

“He’s got to learn how much power to use. Better it happen here than out in battle.” Lloyd shook his head at their arguing. Cole always did take a more head-on approach to training. He joined Nya on the steps leading to the main hall.

She nodded at him. “Having fun yet?” He shrugged.

“Yeah. Feels kind of weird though.” She looked at him quizzically.

“Weird how?”

His uncle’s hurried steps raced down beside them, suddenly stopping at the foot of the stairs.  
“Children, please join me in the main hall.” Nya gave him another pointed look as they filed inside. She’d want to continue that conversation later. He focused his attention on his uncle, putting it out of his mind.

The old man had seemed tired when he’d woken up back in his bed, but he clearly hadn’t gotten any sleep the night before. His eyes were bloodshot and blinking constantly, and he’d even forgone the usual hat. Not to mention the fact that he’d clearly never changed out of his clothes from the day before.

“Uncle, what’s this about?” He watched as Wu paced in front of them, trailing fingers over his beard. He opened his mouth to ask again when Wu answered.

“I have a mission for the four boys.” Lloyd felt Nya stiffen next to him. “It is not for training, not for honing the elements. This is…” He faltered. “This is to fight the serpentine.” He held up a scroll. Its yellowed paper looked ancient as he gingerly handed it to Zane. “Long ago, the first master forged four weapons for the four elements of creation.” Lloyd tried to peer over Kai’s shoulder as the scroll was passed around. “The Sword of Fire, Scythe of Quakes, Nunchucks of Lightning, and Shurikens of Ice are all powerful weapons, and they could mean the difference between victory and defeat in the face of our enemies.”

“But Sensei, how will we find these? This document…”

Wu nodded, waving away Zane’s question. “That scroll was only meant to tell of their existence. However, my father…” his voice hesitated. Lloyd’s ears perked up at the mention of his grandfather. “My father left behind his, ah, research on the subject.”

“Our first stop will be the Wailing Alps.”

Lloyd sat up. “Our? Will Nya and I get to come?”

“No!” He blinked at his uncle’s harsh tone. “You two will stay here. It is not safe for you to leave with the tombs open.”

Nya nearly knocked him over as she jumped to her feet. “And what, it’s magically safe for the boys?” She motioned to said teenagers. “Kai’s barely two years older than I am, what exactly allows him out but keeps me?” Said brother was currently attempting to melt into the couch. “Clearly it isn’t gender, because you’re keeping Lloyd here too!”

“Enough!” All six jumped at the elder raising his voice. “You two will not leave the monastery. You will stay. Here. You will not follow us. You will not sneak out. And you will not question my judgement on these things!” Lloyd watched with wide eyes as Nya stomped out of the room, trailed by a concerned Kai. He stared at his uncle, confused, before running after them.

Wu sighed at the sight of his nephew’s retreating back.

“Sensei…that was kind of…”

“Harsh.” Cole finished Jay’s thought.

Wu shook his head. “My nephew must learn when to listen. As must she.” The two boys looked at Zane pointedly. He cleared his throat softly.

“Sensei Wu, if I may…” He paused. “Lloyd merely wishes to see the world, as does Nya. And now that Lloyd is an elemental master…”

“He is not an elemental master!” The third outburst caught them all off guard. “He is a child, as are the rest of you. Back to your training! We will leave tomorrow at sunrise, and I will not have anyone keeping us behind schedule.” They watched as he disappeared up the library steps, speechless.


	33. Hatching Plans

Back in his room, Lloyd stared angrily at the floor. His uncle’s words echoed in his head.

He is not an elemental master!

He held up a glowing hand. The green pulsed in the low light of his room. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he wondered aloud. He watched as it matched his breathing. “Why don’t you tell me anything?” He hadn’t told his uncle about the tomb. About Scales’ story. Wu had always been secretive about his father. About Garmadon. He clenched his fist, extinguishing the green light.  
Even the snakes had told him more about his father than Wu had. And who knows if that version of the story could be trusted! The man hid everything under the guise of “you do not want to know.” “You do not need to know.” “That is a story for another day.” He slammed his fist into his mattress.

“I just want to know about him.” Who was Garmadon? Did he command this element, or did it come from Misako? What was this element? Wu had an entire library of scrolls…surely one of them had answers. Lloyd’s eyes widened.

Sunrise…the monastery would be empty at sunrise. Nya was guaranteed to stay in her room, she was so angry. Wu and the others were guaranteed to be gone for at least the day, if not longer.

He clutched his blanket tight around his shoulders. He’d have his answers soon, and no one would keep him in the dark. Not anymore.

\---

Nya let out a yell as she stomped back into her room. She stopped just short of slamming the door, hearing Kai slip inside with her and shut the door. She paced the room. “Bug, he didn’t mean,”

“You know exactly what he meant, Kai!” She spun to face her brother. “For some reason, he’s got it out for me and Lloyd!” Kai sat down in her chair. “If it were just me, I’d know. It’d be as simple as either no powers or being the only girl.” She started pacing again as Kai opened his mouth. “And don’t even suggest that it’s age – two years cannot be that big of a deal! Who knows how old Zane really is! And besides that, I went to get Lloyd, didn’t I?”

Kai let out a sigh. “I don’t think he has it out for you and the kid.”

She whirled on him again. “You just like having your boys’ club! You like not having to be followed around by your ‘baby’ sister all the time!” she air quoted.

“C’mon, that’s not fair,” Kai protested.

“Isn’t it? Since we came here, you’ve done nothing but do what that old man says, day in and day out!” She dropped onto her bed. “You didn’t even want to come in the first place.” Kai looked up in concern when he heard her sniffling. “I only encouraged it because I thought he’d help us. And I’m grateful for what he’s done. But it was always you and me. No matter what.”

“Nya…” She shrugged his hand off of her shoulder.

“Just leave me alone, Kai. You have a mission in the morning.” She glared into her pillow as his footsteps retreated through the door.

\---

“Open the tomb.” Scales shuddered at Pythor’s tone. The small child in front of them calmly pressed each of the symbols on the weathered stone. She stumbled as the ground quaked around them, but her eyes stayed dazed and dull. “Leave her.” The Anacondrai slithered into the tomb. 

Scales spared her a small glance. They’d found her gathering flowers at the edge of her village. Pythor had spied her threadbare clothes and bare feet – a poor child won’t be noticed, not for hours, he’d said. He’d hypnotized her immediately. That had been this morning. “Scales!” He rushed into the tomb, ignoring the grumble as it closed again. The hypnosis would not wear off for another hour or so. He thought back to Lloyd’s – the boy’s – fever from their travels. Hopefully not all children were so fragile.

“Greetings, Pythor.” Scales heard the familiar hiss of Acidicus filtering down the tunnel. The head of the Venomari tribe was known for his battle strategy and sharp mind. “This is about the Devourer, isn’t it?” Centuries under the toxic bogs of Ninjago had done little to corrode his wit. His face was littered with wrinkles and lighter scales from old age.

Pythor’s mouth split in a smile. “I see you anticipated my goals.”

“I must warn you,” the green snake’s tone was somber. “This path is not one you can reverse. Once the fangblades are forged, you cannot stop its return.” The older snake cut off Pythor’s reply. “But you know that. We both know you will not back down from this.” He pulled a weathered scroll from his bag. “This is a map of the ancient starscryer’s locations.” Pythor unrolled it, studying the map.

“There are locations all over Ninjago. Which one holds the forge?”

Acidicus shook his head. “The ancients did not intend for it to be easy to unleash the Devourer, Pythor.” Scales’ eyes widened as the old snake admonished the younger. “Their writings are old and weathered, and half are lost to the ages. You will need to hunt for your vengeance.” The Anacondrai scowled as he rolled up the map and shoved it at Scales.

“Thank you,” he hissed. “For your guidance.” 

The old snake followed them as they left the tomb. Scales stole a moment as Pythor mused over their next destination.

“Chief Acidicus, you know the Devourer’s destruction will spell doom for us all. You cannot allow him to unleash it!” he pleaded. The elder shook his head.

“Trying to stand in his way would spell doom for all Serpentine. Pythor is willing to unleash an ancient deity upon mankind for one man’s misdeed. What would he do if his own people stood against him? I ask you, did he really need your loyalty to unseal the tombs?” Scales felt a wave of unease wash over him.

“He did that on his own. Do you think we could really stand in his way with the Constrictai behind him?”


	34. The Wailing Alps

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! This is a little apology for not updating last week. EotU kept me super busy, plus we have some craziness going down at work and school soon, so bear with me!

Jay woke up with a groan. It always sucked when Sensei made them go on missions at sunrise. That man was inhuman. He peeked out of his curtains – there were still stars blinking above him, for crying out loud. He eyed his cold weather gi. Sensei did say they’d be traveling to the Wailing Alps first…

He sluggishly threw on the outfit. The first two layers came on fine, but the last layer was a dense jacket of thick wool – he’d rather carry that in a pack than sweat through it during breakfast. He tugged on his boots and hopped – fell – through his doorway.

“Hey motormouth.” He blearily stared up at Cole from his spot on the ground.

“Mmmrrrrph.”

Cole laughed, covering his mouth to keep from waking Lloyd and Nya. “Still not fully awake?” He helped the smaller boy up and lead him inside to the kitchen. “I still don’t get how you’re able to function this early, Zane.”

Said nindroid raised an eyebrow. “Odd. I believe the blueprints Jay found should shed some light on the subject.”

“Not what I meant, popsicle.” He slid into a chair while Jay wilted into the table. “Where’s Kai?” Said ninja trudged in the doorway at that point. His hair was wilder than ever, and the bags under his eyes were impressive. Cole let out a low whistle. “You doing okay, fireball?”

Zane spoke up from the stove. “Kai did not sleep well last night.” He turned to the boy’s intense glare. “It is true; I heard you pacing in your room following your discussion with Nya.”

Cole patted him on the back. “She’ll be okay. I can’t blame her for being frustrated, but Sensei has his reasons for what he does.” Kai rolled his eyes and bit into a muffin.

“Are we ready to depart?” Kai promptly choked on his breakfast as Sensei Wu walked into the kitchen. “It will soon be sunrise, and we will not want to waste any daylight.” Wu continued as Cole thumped Kai on the back.

“Sensei,” Zane asked. “Which weapon is it that we will be locating?”

Wu sipped his morning tea before answering. “The Wailing Alps are the hiding place of the Shurikens of Ice. They will be cleverly hidden and well-guarded, but you four should be able to get them without much struggle.”

Jay picked his head up off the table. “How much is “much” struggle, Sensei?” Cole chuckled, Kai now breathing on his own again.

“We’ll be fine, Jay.”

\---

“We’Ll Be FiNe, JaY!” Jay yelled. “I am NOT fine, Cole! Not fine!”

“Will you stop mocking me and just hunker down?” Cole shouted over the whistling winds that threatened to tear them off the mountain. He pulled harder on the rope tying them together, nearly knocking Jay into the snow. “We still need to pull up Kai and Zane!”

“Anytime now would be nice!” Kai yelled. He was lashed to Zane, both of them clinging to the cliff face just below Cole and Jay. “I am not a fan of being dangled!”

Zane pulled himself up and turned back to Kai. “We are almost at the cave!” He helped him up over the ledge and kept moving. “If we can reach it, we can get out of this wind.”

A few minutes later the four collapsed into a small cave in the side of the mountain. Jay put his face in his palms, laughing. “I am never complaining about sunrise exercise again!” Kai nodded his agreement, his brown face flushed from the cold. Even Cole looked chilled with his breath puffing out in small clouds. He looked up at Zane, the nindroid’s face twisted in a look of concern.

“You okay, icicle?”

Zane straightened. “There is something down there.”

Jay sat up. “Uh yeah, that’s why we’re here, buddy. The shurikens.”

Zane shook his head. “No. There is something else. Something alive.” He took a step into the cave. “My sensors are registering something…odd.”

“Zane, are you sure it’s not cold damage? With this much ice and wind,”

“I am the master of ice, Jay. I doubt it would harm my sensors now.” Jay blinked at the note of annoyance in Zane’s voice. “I will see if I can gather more information on it.”

Kai sprang to his feet. “Hold on there, Zane. If it’s something big,”

“I can be down there and back quickly, Kai. If the four of us go, we are four times as likely to be seen or discovered by whatever is setting off my sensors.”

Cole frowned. “What if it senses you right back, Zane?”

Zane gave him a pointed look. “If it is an animal, I have no heartbeat or heat signature for it to sense. Even my clothes do not bear the human scent yours would.” The matter decided, he turned to venture down the cave. “I will be back shortly.”

The cave’s temperature seemed to drop the further in he went. Despite what he’d told Jay earlier, Zane felt what he now knew was his internal heating system kick into high gear. If he’d had breath, he had no doubt that it would be trailing behind him, a cold trail of frozen vapor.

He blinked as the tunnel grew lighter. He knew from his scans and Wu’s maps of the area he was nowhere near the outside, yet…

Zane couldn’t help but gasp as he entered the cavern. Icicles and crystals covered the ceiling entirely, refracting light from the outside down into the cave. He was transfixed by the glittering frozen room – every inch of it sparkled with light.

He turned to the center of the room. There, embedded in a hanging icicle, were two golden glowing shurikens. They seemed to pulse when he laid eyes on them, as if they saw him as well. His eyes dropped below them, to a strange ice sculpture.

As it began to crack and shift, Zane took a step back.

“That is no sculpture,” he whispered.


	35. Shard

The ice dragon in front of him bellowed into the icy cavern, the echo reverberating into a deafening roar. Zane stared with wide eyes at the glittering beast.

Its entire body was translucent ice. Icicles fell from its frozen jaw and shattered on the floor as it shook itself. He watched as it slowly rose to its feet, crackling shocks stabbing through the air as the ice cracked around its joints. Its claws dug into the frozen ground beneath them – Zane swore it shook below its strong legs, despite what his seismic sensor told him.

Zane rolled out of the way as razor sharp shards of ice slashed through the air. He winced at the screech of his hands scrabbling across the icy ground. “Please, I mean no harm!” He yelled. A blast of icy wind sent him crashing to the ground. He flipped over to his back – he couldn’t let it out of his sight.

And yet…if he wasn’t careful the sight of it would freeze him solid in sheer awe. Even here, in this cavern, surrounded by breathtaking ice, it was undeniably captivating. He couldn’t deny its beauty. He stopped short, grinning to himself. Beauty. He turned to face the rampaging beast.

“Wait!” He threw up a flurry of snow. The dragon halted its bellowing for a moment, stunned. It huffed and snorted out a blast of cold wind, scenting the air around him. “Wait,” he repeated. “You…you are like me.” He smiled. He could hear his heater thrumming in his ears.

He stood stock still as it nosed his gi. Its snout was freezing – frost sprouted on each fold of his tunic where it touched – and its breath was ice cold. He held up a steady hand. “I can prove it.” He slowly opened his fingers, letting the ice grow off of them. It slowly crawled up and off of his hand, forming into a six-armed crystal. He focused, and let it break off into a million flakes. He watched the dragon, gauging its reaction.

It let out a confused trill, looking between him and the falling flurry. He laughed, and laughed again at its tilted head. Zane dissolved into a giggling fit, letting his knees hit the icy ground. Pure joy bounced around and off the ice around them as he leaned into the dragon, artificial tears streaking down his face.

It let out a small noise of alarm, shoving its snout into his chest.

His chest heaved as he laughed out a few more brief chuckles. “I apologize, my friend.” He grinned up at it from his spot on the floor. “I have not felt…this…in many days.” He held his hand up again, both beings watching as more flakes fluttered to the ground. “We truly are not so different, are we?” He looked around the ice cavern. 

Its icicles had not grown overnight – and the cave he’d found had clearly not had a dragon walk through it recently. Judging from its clumsy steps, it had lain dormant for decades, centuries even. “You are very ancient, are you not?” He asked. It trilled again, and he noticed its blue eyes, glowing with intelligence. 

“How long have you been here?” It let out a low hum, lifting its head up to the high ceiling above them. Zane frowned. “Too long, I would say.” He got up, walking again to the shurikens, still stuck in their icy column. He stopped as the dragon let out a low growl.

He slowly turned to it again. “Please. I will not misuse them.” It stared at him – into him – and quieted. “Thank you.” He murmured. He gently grabbed them.

They came out of their prison with no resistance. He watched as it seemed to melt away from their sharp points. He quickly grabbed the second of the pair and turned to his colossal companion.

“We need to leave,” his eyes darted around the cavern. “You are not staying here any longer.” It trilled long and low as it looked skyward again. “I mean it, you are coming with me. You will not be left alone any longer!” It looked surprised by his tone. He walked up to it, offering a hand.

“I know you have been alone a long time. Maybe longer than you can remember.” He let his gaze fall to the ground. “I know what that is. How that feels. You want to forget the good, sometimes, so its memory cannot hurt you.” He felt rather than heard his voice turn quiet. “But it does not stay forgotten, my friend. Only buried.” He took in a shaky breath.

“Please, let me help you.”

\--- 

“So, not that I don’t love being forced to huddle with Kai for survival,” Jay shivered. “But shouldn’t Zane be back by now?” Kai pouted from his designated spot as heater, and let his temperature rise again.

Cole looked at the entrance to the cave again. “I’m not sure, Jay.” He sighed. “Zane’s capable on his own. After all, he’s been doing this the longest.”

“But Cole,” Jay squirmed, knocking an irate Kai in the shoulder. “He literally got a memory bombshell, like, a week ago.” He clambered over the red ninja. “What if he’s trapped in there? Or in some sort of memory prison? Or he got a flashback? Or,”

He stopped short and sprang to his feet as they all heard the deafening roar blasting out of the cavern. An eruption of ice and snow nearly knocked them all off the mountain, saved only by Cole’s reaction and an earthen blast wall.

“My apologies, friends!” Zane called down from his perch. “But I believe I may have a faster way home for us all!” He grinned down at them and gave the dragon an encouraging pat behind its icicled head. It happily shook, sending ice falling to the ground below.

“His name,” He smiled. “Is Shard.”


	36. Digging Into the Past

When the boys left that morning, Lloyd slipped out of bed carefully. His eyes burned – he’d hardly gotten any sleep that night. His feet shuffled to the door, listening for Nya. She always slept in after going to bed angry, but he couldn’t risk her getting in trouble right along with him. He was getting answers today.

He quietly walked to the living room, and then padded up the stairs. He’d never noticed how old the monastery was before now. It creaked and groaned with every step he made up to the library. He slowly pushed the door open. Here in the low light from the rising sun, the library felt like it held secrets.

He stood in the center of the room for a moment. He’d thought for so long last night, but now that he was here…he stared at his uncle’s shelves and shelves of scrolls and books. It felt like Wu had been collecting information since the dawn of time. Centuries’ worth of knowledge, all in one place. He took in a deep breath. Wu wasn’t the only one who could collect knowledge. There was something about his father in here, he knew it.

\---

Long ago…

“What happened?!”

Both boys stared up at their father. Wu clutched his hand to his chest, trying to keep the tears at bay. Garmadon’s wide eyes flitted between his father and his brother as he tried to catch his breath. “I – I don’t – we just, the katana – and and and,” Their father scooped up Wu and motioned to his older child.

“We’ll get you both back inside. And then you will tell me exactly what happened here.”

Garmadon followed his father with bated breath, eyes on Wu. The young boy’s breathing was beginning to sound odd, and he’d stopped holding his tears back.

\---

"Garmadon and his brother Wu successfully banished the traitorous serpentine warriors and retreated to their family’s monastery…"

He stared at the scattered scrolls and scraps of paper around him. Hours of reading and research, and nothing. “I know his name, I know who he’s related to. I don’t need this information!” All the books said the same thing. None of them mentioned Garmadon ever having a child, and all of them told the same serpentine story that Wu had.

Lloyd slammed yet another book shut. “This is stupid!” He huffed. “He was his brother, for goodness sakes! Surely the old man has something on him!” He sat back in his chair. “If it’s so important to learn from the past, why doesn’t he have anything on his?”

He sat up. “Unless…” He hurriedly placed the book back on the shelf and headed for the staircase. “He never lets us into the study. If there’s anything on my father…it’s there.”

The staircase up to Wu’s private study didn’t creak as much as the rest of the monastery. It seemed dustier…older. Lloyd felt an old thrill going up the steps – it was the last place in the monastery that he was barred from. He hesitated before setting foot into the room. Everything seemed…muffled. Light poured in from a circular window. He spared a glance out of it – he could see the entire courtyard and front gate here. No wonder Wu could always tell when he was sneaking away from training.

He eyed the tall shelf of organized bound books. He carefully pulled down the first volume. “It’s all handwritten…” He sighed. “Maybe I’m finally getting somewhere.”

\---

Garmadon wrung his hands as his father laid Wu out on their bed. His father sighed, laying his hand on Wu’s forehead, and turned to his eldest son. “What. Happened?” Garmadon shrank from his father’s stern tone.

“I – I don’t know.” He sniffed. He couldn’t stop staring at Wu’s flushed face. “I – we – Wu lost the katana, and you were still,” he swallowed. “Still meditating, and we knew you’d be upset,” He felt tears well up in his eyes. “I – I went to get it, but Wu didn’t want to,” he looked up at his father again. “It wasn’t Wu’s fault, father, please, don’t get mad at him!”

He fell into his father’s arms, sobbing. “I know it was an accident, my son.” His father placed his hands on his shoulders, looking his son in the eyes. “But I need to know what happened so I can help your brother.”

Garmadon blinked away more tears. “I think i-it was a snake. Wu saw it, not me. He – I think it was gonna bite me. He shoved me, and th-then…”

His father’s eyes went wide. “Son, what did the snake look like? Garmadon, what bit your brother?”

“I think – I don’t know,” He sniffed again. “I think it was purple.”

\---

Lloyd sat back in his uncle’s chair. “This just has more detail on the same subjects.” He set his head on the table in defeat. “This is impossible…” He slammed a hand down on the desk. He jumped at the soft click he heard under his ear. “What the…” He stared at the drawer that now opened in front of him from under the desk.

“What is this?”


	37. The Journal

Lloyd stared at the journal in front of him. It was old – the leather looked ancient and worn, and there was a distinct…smell to it. He picked at the twine holding it shut. Luckily, the string loosened and fell into the drawer, letting the book fall open.

The handwriting on the inside was neat, the characters forming in smooth calligraphic strokes. The ink was faded – what may have once been black was now a lighter brown color, still stark against the yellowed pages. Even with the perfect form, he still struggled to read the ancient letters. He begrudgingly sent a silent thankyou to his uncle for the unwanted lessons on Old Script.

He looked around again, on edge for when his uncle would return. He’d said it would be a long trip, but Lloyd couldn’t be too careful. Calmed, he turned back to the weathered journal in his hands.

“My name is Wu. I am the second son of the First Elemental Master. First teacher at the Monastery he left behind. Brother to Lord Garmadon, and heir to my father’s library.

"And keeper of the greatest shame my father’s realm will ever know.”

Lloyd’s eyes widened. Weird language aside – surely Wu didn’t mean the First Elemental Master, that was ridiculous, even he wasn’t that old – this wasn’t just one of his uncle’s historical records, written and kept for future generations. This was private. This wasn’t just “restricted”, this was straight up not his to read.

And yet…he’d searched all day. He’d torn through his uncle’s library, opened books and scrolls he’d never even seen before, to no avail. He just wanted to know about his father.

His stomach growled. Lloyd threw his head back, groaning.

After lunch, then.

\---

“So we’re just going to let the dragon…what, follow us until we have all the weapons?”

Zane pouted at Kai’s skeptical tone. “I think he has been quite well behaved, Kai.” He gently rubbed between Shard’s shoulder blades, the dragon letting out a pleased trill.

Jay snorted. “Yeah, he’s been a better sport about this whole thing than you’ve been about, like, anything!” His laugh was cut short with a thwack when Kai flicked him in retaliation. “Hey!”

Cole shook his head at his teammates’ bickering. “Sensei, will there be other dragons at the rest of the locations?”

The old man hummed and stroked his beard. “Are you concerned, Cole?”

“C-concerned?” Cole stammered. “No, I just – we should know what we’re going up against, is all!” He motioned behind them to where Shard was now carrying a flailing Kai by the back of his gi. “Sure, Shard’s great, but Zane could have gotten seriously hurt!”

Wu nodded. “And yet, he is fine. Better, I’d say.” Cole couldn’t deny that. Zane had been weirdly quiet, even for him these past few days. But since finding that icicle-covered monster, he’d been joking and laughing more than Cole had ever seen him do. He pressed his lips together in a tight line. Maybe Shard was just a fluke. A lonely ice monster that happened to hole up in the exact cave hiding powerful ancient weaponry. Yeah, that was it.

Besides, no dragon would like being in a deep underground cavern like the Caves of Despair.

Right?

\---

“My brother – I – made a mistake. I cannot hide that. It was my fault that the katana went over the wall, my fault that I was too cowardly to retrieve it myself. I could not stop him from going over the wall, and I should have called my father and bore the lecture that would have followed. Instead, I fear I may have brought calamity on my father’s greatest creation.”

Lloyd mulled over his uncle’s words. Something was odd here. He kept reading, intrigued.

“My brother was always a caring man. He took his role as eldest seriously and took great care to shield me from my own foolhardiness. But this was something that should never have fallen to him. Had I not been so poisoned by that snake, I would have begged him not to go to that treacherous enchanter.

“I do not know the name of the person who led him along that path; nevertheless, I curse it every day.”

Lloyd huffed out a groan. Even on paper his uncle was long winded…maybe if he skipped ahead…

“When he returned with the antidote, my father was too grateful to care how he got it. He didn’t notice how pale my brother looked. That haunted look in his eyes, whose irises were now red. Perhaps it is a blessing; when my father passed, years later, he still believed his sons were good.”

Some pages were ripped out after that, much to Lloyd’s annoyance. Still, this was more than what he’d found all day…hopefully it would be enough.

“I had to bar my own brother from our childhood home today. I simply couldn’t allow him here, so close to my father’s library of secrets and legends. His thirst for power is unquenchable, and now there are no wars to keep his focus. I fear the day may soon come where keeping him out will no longer be enough.”

Lloyd felt his face curl in frustration. He banned his own brother from the monastery? For what? It didn’t make any sense. He thought back to the scrolls that detailed the Serpentine Wars and the Elemental Conflict. His father and uncle were listed in both as allies. What happened?

He looked down at the last page.

“It happened. I could no longer ignore my brother’s intentions. He nearly – it doesn’t matter now. I’ve hidden the weapons, where he will never find them. And though it pains me to say it – Father, forgive your son. We had no other choice. Misako tried to find another way, but there was no time.

“My name is Wu. And today, I banished my own brother to the Underworld.”


	38. Destructive Decisions

Kai shook his head at Jay’s continued chatter. It was amazing that someone could talk that much without repeating himself. At least it filled up the empty air – apparently the nunchuks of lightning were out in the middle of some barren plain, and the silence was getting to him. Jay’s endless stories about his childhood were a welcome distraction.

For a little while, at least.

“Y’know Kai, how come you don’t talk much about your parents?” He bristled.

“Watch it, Walker,” Kay said. “I was almost getting used to you.” Cole rolled his eyes and clapped a hand on his shoulder.

“He didn’t mean anything by it, Fireball.” Kai grumbled a retort. “If you don’t answer, it just gives him another excuse to hang out with Nya.” Cole taunted. He threw his hands up at Kai’s glare.

Said fireball held the glare for a moment before hissing out a sigh. “I doubt my sister’s up for hanging out with any of us right now.”

Cole gave him a sympathetic look. “She still mad at you?”

Kai vaguely gestured in the air. “Oh, you mean for leaving her behind? Or for letting her come on one mission, which she ultimately completed, only to leave her behind again? Or,” his voice rose, “not speaking up when he,” Kai pointed his thumb ahead where Wu was following a map. “Called her a child?”

The others fell silent. Zane spoke up from Shard’s back. “I thought you were able to speak with her before leaving. Did you not?”

Kai huffed. “She’s as stubborn as I am. And we had to go! What was I supposed to do?”

All four boys kept walking, unsure of the answer.

“She’ll be fine. She just needs some time to cool off.”

\---

Nya glared at her ceiling. He’d really left her! Again! She’d proven herself more than valuable – she was the one who got Lloyd back in the first place! And they’d left her behind, no problem. Not even a shred of guilt. And Sensei – he’d called her a child! She was what, six months younger than Jay? She was more mature than that guy, anyway. She’d seen him scream at a bee.

Even Lloyd had disappeared off somewhere by the time she got up to eat. Fine by her, if he wants to go be off by himself. Not like he was gutsy enough to leave anytime soon. She set about heating up some leftovers.

Only to cuss out the microwave that finally broke down.

It had been a gift from Jay’s parents, supposedly. As she stared at the wreckage on the kitchen table, it was clearly not a “factory” model. It looked like they’d just used whatever wiring and sheet metal they’d had lying around. Judging from Jay’s cluttered room, it figured that his parents were inventors too. Nya sent a silent thank you that Kai had talked the village mechanics into letting her watch them work. She rolled up her sleeves and started picking apart the wires. At least it gave her something to do.

\---

Lloyd couldn’t believe the book in his hands. His father was banished? And Wu had banished him? For what? It made zero sense!

It sent him reeling. If this was all accurate…something had happened to make Wu banish his own brother. But not before he was able to have a son. And while Misako wasn’t exactly…nurturing…she wasn’t someone to just have a kid with anybody. She had to have loved his father.

So what did he do? It wasn’t recorded anywhere in the general books Wu had – and he had an astounding amount that covered everything. Surely there would have been something, right?

Thirteen years…Lloyd’s father had been banished to the underworld for thirteen years.

No one could leave the underworld. And they didn’t die, either. Wu had told him enough stories to know that, for sure. Time was stagnant there. It was why banishment was a punishment reserved for those who truly couldn’t be punished in any other way. You were stuck just as you were when you went in, forever. And no one really knew what was there.

Although…Lloyd lunged for one of the discarded books he’d tossed aside earlier. People weren’t always stuck there forever. He frantically flipped through the pages, searching for the chapter he’d skimmed over that morning.

“If someone has been banished, either to the Cursed Realm or the Underworld, they are trapped there forever.” His shoulders slacked at the words. “However,” his eyes widened. “Should the person who banished them – or a blood relative – regret such action, and choose to call them back,” Lloyd excitedly turned the page. “They can be retrieved, body and soul intact, just as they were upon banishment.”

If his father was truly sent there…he could be brought back. Surely being trapped in an unending limbo for so long had cured whatever Wu had sent him away for, right? He could bring back his father. Whatever it was that Wu was hung up on, his father could explain, right? He could even explain how the serpentine had twisted what had happened. 

He could bring him back. His father could even show him how to use his powers – those were genetic, right? His uncle had said that Ray Smith was the past elemental master of fire, and that’s why his son Kai was the current master. Whatever element he held now, it had to belong to his father first!

Lloyd tucked the book explaining the summoning into a small bag, not even bothering to pick up the library or the study. He could do it later, once his father was home. It would all be worth it, it wouldn’t even take him long to do it. He’d be done before Wu and the boys were back anyway!

They’d come home, and everything would be better.


	39. Summoning

Kai was officially through with this element-themed road trip. Jay had been running around screaming his head off for the past twenty minutes, while Zane tried to shout encouraging tips through the frustratingly small gap he’d wiggled into. Apparently, there was a small clearing that had an impossible thunderstorm going on the inside. Jay had shrieked at the first thunderclap, and that had woken up something – the high-strung boy was too busy running to tell them what – and now Kai was fighting a headache and Cole looked like he was doing the same.

“Jay, stop running and simply introduce yourself!” Zane called into the gap. “They are just guardians; you must prove yourself to them!” Behind him, Shard tilted his head quizzically. Kai chalked up Zane’s lack of reaction to Jay’s panic to him being a nindroid.

“Easy for you to say!” Jay screeched. “You are not a small,” he rolled behind a rock. “Squishy,” he yelped when that got blasted with lightning. “ME!”

Kai rolled his eyes. This wasn’t working – and he wasn’t much bigger than Jay, right?

“Whoa, what are you doing Fireball?” He ignored Cole’s concern and set down his bulkier armor and weapon. “Kai, what,” 

He waved him off and wedged into the gap. They really needed to feed Jay more if he fit into this space. “He’s clearly not going to do whatever it is zen king over there did,” Zane raised an eyebrow at him. “So I’m going to help.”

Zane furrowed his brows. “Kai, I advise against this. Shard reacted well enough to the rest of you,” he ignored Cole’s grumbling. “But that was after he allowed me to take the shurikens. What if this being reacts poorly?”

“It’s already reacting poorly, Zane.” He argued. “At this rate, Jay’s just going to run himself ragged and then we’ll really need me to squeeze in here to grab him before that thing does.”

“But Kai,”

“But nothing! Unless you have another suggestion?” Kai pointedly asked. “He needs help. Otherwise we’re just in for more screaming.”

Cole opened his mouth to argue, cut off by another crash and screaming. “Okay fair.”

\---

Lloyd looked at the spread on the training mat. He didn’t want to risk Wu coming home and immediately seeing…whatever this was…so he moved out to furthest corner, the sparring mat. The book only said he needed a couple of special teas…and luckily Wu kept a small store of most. Now he just needed to do a little more prep.

And somehow understand how on earth these old words were pronounced. 

He tried mouthing them – they seemed like they were at some point related to modern language, if only barely. There were some strange sounds – consonants and vowels that didn’t normally go together. They felt like his tongue was tripping over itself. He set his jaw. It didn’t matter how hard it was. He only had to do it right once, and then he’d have his father back.

He stilled suddenly. He’d have his father, period. He’d never met the man.

How would he be?

Jay always liked talking about his parents; even if he denied it. If you got him talking about them, he’d chatter on about happy memories and silly anecdotes for hours. Clearly Mr. Walker was a great dad. Jay always talked about good family traditions or holidays, and his first real injury was a sprained ankle from sparring with Cole. He was actually a little spoiled in some regards.

Cole didn’t mention his dad much. He was always vague about things. He shared a couple of memories – mostly just descriptions. Mr. Brookstone was supposedly really confident, and he always pushed Cole to do better…but beyond that, Lloyd didn’t know much.

Zane didn’t even know he had a dad until now.

And Kai and Nya…he once asked Nya about their parents. About why Kai was always so angry about things. She told him what she’d told Wu when they first met – that she didn’t remember, and Kai wouldn’t say.

He stared at the foreign words in his hands. Only one in four. One in four of the fathers he knew of could be confidently called good.

He shook his head. That was ridiculous. Just because Cole and Kai didn’t talk about them doesn’t mean their dads were bad. And Zane was still remembering! Maybe his father was just as doting as Mr. Walker.

Lloyd steeled himself and held the book tighter in his hands. He slowly pronounced each word, taking care not to stutter or stumble over them like he had earlier. This was important.

The wind around him began to stir. The clouds in the sky darkened.

He ignored them, moving on to the next paragraph.

The sky began to grow darker still. He held the book closer, squinting down at the aged ink. A sudden chill gave him pause.

In front of him, a ripple in the air. Like a heat mirage, but in midair. He swallowed and continued with wide eyes, darting between the words and the growing ripple.

He hesitated on the last word, spitting it out with forced confidence. The ripple pulsed, then expanded into a glowing purple portal. The grass mats it touched withered away from it, and the air turned stale and musty.

He darted again to the book. “I-I,” he winced at his now small voice. “I call back he who was cast away.” He coughed, clearing his throat. “I extend my hand,” he raised a shaky palm to the portal. It felt cold where his hand dipped in. “and call back Garmadon, brother of Wu.”

He stared expectantly at his hand.

Nothing.

His heart pounded in his ears. He’d opened the portal. He’d said the words. Where was he? He did everything right – right? He clumsily flipped the pages with one hand, his arm still halfway into the portal. Did he miss something?

A pain on his wrist jolted his attention back to the portal in front of him.

“Who calls me?”


	40. Who Calls Me?

Lloyd let out a cry as something sharp dug into his wrist. Pain shot up his arm. The voice called out to him again, louder this time. Lloyd scrambled to stay rooted in his world – the being kept its tight grip on him, causing his feet to slide forward on the mats. His heart beat loudly in his ears as a voice called out.

“Who calls me?”

Lloyd thrashed in its grip and tried to get away from the portal, but its tight hold on him only grew stronger, claws digging deeper into his arm. He couldn’t help the tears welling in his eyes as he felt the claws beginning to scratch down the length of his arm.

He wrenched his hand out of the portal with a shout, falling roughly to the ground. He cradled his bleeding arm close and stared up at the swirling vortex in front of him.

An armor-clad foot broke through the veil and landed heavily on the mat. Wide eyes followed it up to where it disappeared into the underworld. 

Lloyd backed away further. He glanced down at the five deep scratches on his arm. He turned breathlessly back up to the swirling portal.

Two clawed hands burst out of it, gripping the sides of the portal. “I ask once more,”

The raspy voice sent chills down his spine, but Lloyd was frozen in place, unable to even try to run away.

“Who,” Lloyd jumped as another set of hands joined the first pair. “Calls,” The single foot dug in its heel while the arms strained to pull forward. “ME?”

A black figure broke free of the portal, dark smoke and purple sparks trailing behind it. Lloyd stared up at the imposing armored figure in front of him.

His armor was pitch black, finely crafted from the guards on his legs to the samurai helmet on his head. He held himself like a man of importance; arms crossed, and head held high. But what drew Lloyd’s attention were his arms and face.

His skin was even darker than his armor, crossed with white swirls and stripes. He held his arms crossed in front of him – and a second set rested with his hands on his hips.

There was no way this was his father. This person wasn’t – couldn’t – be human.

“My father’s monastery.” Father? Lloyd’s mind was reeling. “You,” Lloyd stared wide-eyed down the blade of the sword leveled at his throat. “Who are you? How did you bring me back?”

Words fell flat in his throat. The sword motioned at him again. “Answer me, child.”

“I-I,” he swallowed down his fear. “My name is L-Lloyd.” He shakily met the figure’s red eyes. “Lloyd Garmadon.”

The sword drooped away from his throat. The figure stared closely down at him. “Garmadon?” His voice was hushed. “What is the meaning of this?”

Lloyd let out a sigh of relief as the sword moved away. “I can explain,”

“No,” He scrabbled backwards as the weapon raised again. “I am not one so easily tricked, boy. Now I’m only going to ask this once,”

He knelt down and grabbed Lloyd by the front of his shirt.

“Where. Is. Wu?”

\---

“JAY!” Kai called into the cavern. It would be a marvel, ordinarily – lightning and thunder crackled around him, despite there being no actual rain falling. Kai found himself turning this way and that, transfixed by the blue crystals that lit the cave.

Another shriek drew his attention back to his mission.

Right. Save the lightning bug.

He caught a glimpse of blue fabric behind a nearby rock cluster. He dashed over, sliding behind it next to Jay.

“AH!” Okay so food and maybe some calming tea for this one. “Hi, Kai. How’re you?” It was crazy for Kai that anyone could talk as fast or as much as Jay, but apparently, he could go even faster when being chased by an elemental guardian. “I know it’s kind of taking me a bit, but trust me! I have it all under control, no biggie, I got this!” The chatterbox gave a shaky laugh as he ran his hand through his hair. “And how did you even fit in that gap? I know I’m kinda small, and you’re short, well, not short, just in need of a growth spurt, at least that’s how Dad always puts it,”

“Dude, calm down.” Jay stared at Kai with wide blue eyes. “I’m here to help.” He grabbed Jay’s hand with a nod. “So what is it we need to beat for these nunchucks?”

Jay bit his lip and peered around the side of their hiding spot. “I don’t even know, Kai, but it’s big and very upset!”

“Sounds like Cole when you ate his last piece of cake.”

“I didn’t know it was his! And that’s beside the point.”

Kai joined Jay and searched the room for their target. “Where is it? If it’s so big, it should be easy to see,” He froze up at the huff behind him. “Crap.”

Jay yanked him away from the sparking dragon with another yell. Kai rolled to avoid a lightning strike from the irate reptile, calling to his teammate. “Have you even tried following Zane’s instructions?!”

Jay himself was hopping around like a mad frog. “Well he hasn’t exactly given me the opportunity!”

“WELL TRY IT SPARKPLUG!”

Jay skidded to a stop. “Sparkplug?”

He stiffened as the telltale taste of metal spread in his mouth. He turned slowly, staring up at the creature he’d been running from. “H-heyyyy there buddyyy…” He nervously waved. “Fancy seeing you here.”

It gave a low growl, unamused.

Jay tried his best to keep his breathing steady. “Maybe you’d like a, uh, scratch behind the uh, horns?” He shakily reached a hand up, only to yank it back when it snapped at the offending fingers.

“Okay! So no scratches. Duly noted.”


	41. Ill-Advised Decisions

Jay could hardly breathe staring up at the animal – did dragons count as animals? – standing over him. It towered over him, wings spread out over his head. Distantly he could hear Kai whisper-yelling for him to run, but he was frozen in place.

It really was beautiful, if you ignored the imminent feeling of death. Glowing blue scales that sparked now and again, from tip to tail. Small arcs of lightning curled off of its wings – it was built even lighter than Shard, and much smaller. Granted, smaller than Shard didn’t mean small. He dared a look at its eyes – brilliant glowing eyes that shone with intelligence. It quirked its head at him, turning this way and that.

It circled him, staring intently back at him.

Jay blinked in understanding.

“You’re trying to figure me out too, aren’t you?” He could have sworn it purred at him. “I mean,” he gulped. “You’ve probably been down here a while. No humans around to see, huh? And I mean,” Jay let out a nervous giggle. “Not many able to fit in that gap, at least.”

He steeled his resolve.

“Please don’t bite me please don’t bite me please don’t bite me,” he slowly reached a shaking hand up to its jaw, stubbornly staring at his own feet. He resisted the urge to jump when his fingertips met scales.

A low croon encouraged him to look up at the beast above him. Jay smiled at the sight that met him.

It leaned into his touch, purring and curling its tail around his ankle. “Oh you’re a cuddle monster, aren’t you?” He grinned. “Whoa!” his world flipped upside down.

“As much fun as this is,” Kai stalked out from behind his hiding spot. “Can we get the nunchucks now?”

Jay looked down from where he dangled by the ankle. “Oh! Right…” he looked over at the dragon. “Can you put me down?” If he didn’t know better, he’d have sworn that it pouted at him. “Please?” The growl it gave as it lowered him to the ground sounded more annoyed than threatening.

“Thanks.” He grinned up at it from his spot on the ground. “Can I take the nunchucks now?” It dropped his ankle to the ground and walked past to another small crack.

Jay watched in amazement as it flashed into a bolt of lightning and disappeared into the cave wall. He scrambled to his feet and went to follow it.

Kai watched incredulously as Jay followed the reptile. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Jay raised an eyebrow. “Uh, getting the nunchucks?” He replied.

Kai shook his head in protest. “Jay you barely held it together in here! I can’t follow you into a crack that small – wait here, maybe we can get Zane and Shard to widen the opening,” Jay waved off Kai’s worry.

“I’ll be fine! Just wait out here, okay? Besides,” He looked into the crack the dragon had disappeared into. “Now I have Wisp to help me instead of scare the bejeezus out of me. I’ll be fine.”

\---

Lloyd could hardly think straight.

The man above him stretched out his arms – he had four arms! – and twisted his back, armor clattering together with each movement.

This was a bad idea.

He shouldn’t have – no wonder his uncle kept all of these texts away from him how could he be so stupid – the man in front of him demanded his attention again.

“Where is Wu? I will not ask you again, child.”

“H-he’s not here,” Lloyd stammered. “He is – I mean, he should be returning soon, but he wouldn’t tell me where they were going, I don’t think I really understood why,”

The imposing figure rolled his eyes and held up a hand, stopping Lloyd’s words cold. “Soon is not a time, child.” He turned away, surveying the training yard. “This isn’t right. Only two of these rooms should be in use…” He turned to Lloyd again. “How long have I been banished?”

Lloyd shook his head. “I-I don’t know – I mean, I’m thirteen, and, it couldn’t have been too soon before or after that,”

He cut him off with an annoyed look. “I don’t know who told you that I would accept such lies, but I would advise putting a stop to them.” He leaned in, close enough that Lloyd could see the purple swirling through the man’s red eyes. His voice was absolutely venomous as he continued. “I wanted children. I wanted a family. That,” he rose up again. “Was stolen from me by my idiotic brother.” He stepped away, leaving Lloyd to let out the breath he’d been holding. “Get up.”

Lloyd scrambled to his feet, hissing at his jostled arm. The bleeding was luckily slow, but it had stained his training gi. Zane was not going to happy about that. Assuming he got to see Zane again.

“Come.” He looked up in confusion. “If I must be kept waiting for my revenge,” the man continued. “Then I can at least help you bandage your arm.” Lloyd stood there, unsure of whether to follow the man into the small first aid shed. They had kept it well stocked ever since Kai started using real blades in training. How did he know that was there?

“I will not be kept waiting, child.” He sped to catch up, nearly tripping over the large spellbook he’d left lying on the training mat. “Careful,” the care in his gruff voice surprised him. “You will be cleaning this mess when we are done.” Lloyd pouted. Maybe this man was related to Wu after all.

A voice screeched across the yard, startling both of them.

“LLOYD!”

He looked up to a terrified Nya standing on the back porch. She quickly set her jaw in an attempt to look intimidating and raised her brother’s training katana off of the nearby stand. 

“Get away from him!” she yelled, racing forward.

Lloyd looked between her and the stranger, eyes widening as he saw the man grip the very real sword at his side. “Nya no!”


	42. Children's Tales

Nya cursed and shook her hand. Stupid microwave and its stupid wires. She had almost put it back together, but the thing could be Jay for all the electricity it slacked off. She was just about to call it a lost cause when a gust of sour air blasted through the kitchen. She coughed and sputtered through the harsh wind – did they even get dust storms this high up? It made no sense!

She stomped her way to the back door, thinking Lloyd had gone out to blow off some steam and left it open. She sucked in a breath to scold him for being careless.

She stood in shock at what she saw.

Lloyd, on the ground, a monster standing over him. His arm was bleeding, and he looked terrified.

No, she thought. Not again. She looked to her right – Kai’s training sword. It would have to be enough.

She was not letting him get hurt again.

“Get away from him!”

She ignored Lloyd’s protest and raced at the monster.

\---

“So we have another man-eating monster on our trip. Great.” Jay pouted at Cole’s tone.

“Come on, Cole,” he teased. “Wisp is a smart guy! He’s not just some monster.” Said dragon nuzzled up against the short ninja’s cheek, tickling him with small shocks. “He wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

“You were literally screaming about dying not twenty minutes ago.”

Jay mumbled a protest about first impressions and stress.

The black ninja did not look convinced. “Just keep an eye on him, Jay.”

Kai clapped him on the back. “It’ll be fine, fearless leader.” He smirked. “Don’t we have a scythe to get?” He quickly put his armor and scabbard back on. “Let’s get down off this rock and back to Wu. I’m sure the sensei is itching to go.”

Zane nodded in agreement. “If you would like, Cole,” he said. “You may ride down with myself and Shard. It would be much faster.”

Cole eyed the icicle-covered dragon. It raised its head at the sound of its name, and fluttered its wings, sending up small snow flurries. “I appreciated the offer, Zane…but, ah,” he cast a glance down the rough terrain they’d climbed to reach the nunchucks. “I’ll be fine climbing down.”

Zane tilted his head in confusion. “Are you certain, Cole? It would be much safer to,”

Kai waved him off. “I’ll go with him, Zane. We’ll meet you at the bottom, okay?”

The nindroid nodded reluctantly. “Please exercise caution.”

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll make sure to look both ways before crossing the rockslide.” Kai shrugged. “Besides, he’s the master of earth. We’ll be fine.”

He and Cole watched as their teammates dove off the side of the mountain. Kai stole a sideways glance at the black ninja, who looked apprehensive at the animals flying away. They stood there staring into the sky for a moment, before Cole turned to the rough path behind them.

“C’mon, fireball.” He called. “Let’s go.”

Kai leisurely followed him along down the path.

\---

Scales stared with wide eyes at the vast ruins around them. The starscryers were known for their knowledge of the stars and hatred of the underground, but it had never truly sunk in until now. Here, in this jungle of immense trees, high above unsuspecting humans’ heads, sat the remains of one of the keystone serpentine civilizations.

This ancient sect had built and cultivated a living structure, unseen by an uninformed eye. They’d trained the roots and branches of trees to come together and cared for the trees until they lived wholly unconnected to the ground. He had no doubt that it was breathtaking in its prime.

It was breathtaking now, devoid of intelligent life save himself and Pythor.

“Quit dawdling and start looking!” The Anacondrai’s sharp voice rang out against Scales’ ears.

Right. They were here for any silver left from this civilization, the only one the humans could not have found. The others were all too easy to find over the years, and man’s love of precious metals guaranteed that their wealth was gone.

He quietly moved through the branching bridges and overhanging canopies. While his eyes searched for the metal they needed, his mind searched for guidance.

Acidicus’ words echoed in his mind. 

“Do you think we could really stand in his way?”

No. He’d seen firsthand what an army of Anacondrai could do. Pythor may be one serpentine, but he was a powerful one. It was only by the luck of the flutes that man ever hoped to defeat them. Flutes and a dirty trick.

Could they really afford to let him do this?

He remembered the stories of the Devourer he’d been told as a hatchling.

The Hypnobrai’s legend was ingrained in his head. How once, there was one man, the father of all humanity. And one snake, his friend and companion. How the man promised to always maintain their loyal friendship, and they lived in peaceful harmony. How, like all mankind, he grew bored with a simple life and abandoned the snake for the sake of “progress”.

How the snake tried in vain to reach out to its former friend and was ignored and denied.

How the snake’s jealous hunger turned into a lust for everything it could get its scales on.

It dissolved into madness, devouring everything in its path in its rage.

Its moniker was no mistake; every tribe had its own twist on the legend, but one thing always seemed constant. It grew in size and its venom grew in potency. It attacked the man’s children, and he sought vengeance.

The Devourer was sealed away, much like its supposed descendants would be, centuries later.

The legend always ended the same way; a warning to all who would seek to release the Devourer again. That its hunger would be unfathomable; its jealousy and rage incalculable.

It would seek vengeance on man once more, hellbent on devouring all that he had created in abandoning his oldest friend.

Scales shook his head. It was a children’s tale. Nothing more.

He had to believe that.


	43. A Change of Plans, A Change of Heart

Nya screamed out as she raced forward and met the monster’s sword with a resounding clang. It felt like trying to hold up against all four of the boys, her legs shaking and knees buckling under the stronger opponent.

His voice was calm. “Stand down, girl.” Nya only grunted and dug her heels into the dirt. “It is not my custom to duel children.” She gripped the sword with all of her strength, blade shaking as it held against an impossible force.

Lloyd watched them in horror. “Nya, stop!”

She grit her teeth and held the monster’s red gaze. “You…need to…” she ground out each word against the pressure of his sword on hers. “Run, Lloyd!”

He was frozen in place, numb to the pain in his arm. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the display in front of him.

This man could kill Nya.

“Either you get her to stand down,” he turned in fear to the tall man once more. “Or I force her to.”

He would kill Nya.

Lloyd couldn’t help the crack in his voice as he pleaded with Nya to back down. “Nya, please! He won’t hurt us, just stand down!”

“I won’t…tell you…again, Lloyd! Run!”

“Nya, he’s my father!”

His last plea stuns her, making her brown eyes open wide. “What?” She hits the ground with a grunt, thrown back in her moment of distraction. Lloyd breathed a sigh of relief, only to choke as a hand seized his neck. He could hear Nya yelling as he slammed into the side of the courtyard wall.

“I told you to abandon that insulting charade.” Lloyd gasped against the tight hold. “I will not tell you again.” He desperately nodded against his grip, tears once again spilling out of his eyes. He fell to the ground, coughing and wheezing in an effort to calm his lungs.

Nya raced over to the younger boy, fretting over the blooming marks on his neck and glowering at the intruder. His eyes skip right over her to the gaping monastery door.

“You two are the only ones here, aren’t you?” Nya glared up at him with a set jaw. “You would do well to answer me, girl.”

“The others will be back soon. They’ll know something’s wrong.” She spat.

This gave the man pause. “So…he managed to actually take on pupils again…” His eyes narrowed. “This changes things.”

Nya cautiously stood, pulling Lloyd up with her. “Having second thoughts?” She asked.

He laughed, a chilling sound that had her stepping further in front of Lloyd. “Oh no, child.” He whirled around to her, grinning. Her eyes caught on the sharp fangs in his smile. “I spent far too long banished to the Underworld to have any reservations about my plans.” The barely concealed glee in his voice sent sharp shocks of fear up her spine.

“No,” he said, heading towards the main hall. “This has only changed my mind about how I am going to do things. Gather supplies, children.”

He glared at the staff displayed over the library’s entrance.

“We have a journey to make.”

\---

“You’re scared of the dragons.”

Cole sputtered and nearly tripped over a rock in their path. “What? I am – I mean, they’re huge! And spiky! And – and – and you’re scared of them, not me!”

Kai let out a laugh at the normally calm young man’s lack of composure. “Oh, definitely. But that’s not gonna stop me from hitching a ride when it’s offered.” He rolled his eyes at Cole’s frown. “Oh come on. I’m not teasing you. I’m just…entertained.”

Cole flushed. “Entertained? Do I look like a clown to you, Hothead?”

Kai shook his head, grinning. “Even better, Brookstone. You look flustered for once!”

“Who told you my last name?”

“Zane did.” Kai shrugged. “Got curious on the ride up. And since you insisted on climbing, you weren’t there to stop me.”

Cole groaned in frustration, sliding the rope off of his shoulder and anchoring it around a tree. “Ever think I like mountain climbing, Fireball?”

Kai hopped on the rope after him, nimbly making his way down the sheer cliffside. “See, I thought about that.” He paused a moment to make a jump. “You do like climbing. But you also like relaxing, which you have done exactly zero times this whole trip since we got Shard.”

Cole shot a look up at the fire ninja. “Been staring at me, Hotshot?”

Kai stuck his tongue out at the elemental below him. “Keep your mind clean, buddy.”

They both hopped to the ground, Kai looping the rope again. “But it’s true! You’re always stargazing or telling stories about Jay’s dumb decisions,” He threw the rope over his shoulder and followed along the new path. “But I haven’t heard a single tall tale or constellation since we got Shard. Clearly, you’re scared of the dragons.”

Cole huffed and looked ahead. They were almost to the base camp they’d made that morning. He turned to Kai. “Okay, I will admit, the mon- dragons,” he caught himself at Kai’s sly smirk. “The dragons freak me out. How do they not freak you out? They’re elementals, they don’t even just breathe fire, hell, I don’t know if Shard can breathe fire!”

Kai considered his words. “I bet I could breathe fire.” He took in a deep breath, only to stop when a hand rested on his shoulder.

Cole gave him a dry look. “Smith please do not give yourself burns trying to breathe fire.”

Kai huffed out a smoke ring. “My point is,” he gave the taller boy an honest smile. “I don’t think they’re gonna hurt us. Hell, Shard had plenty of chances to make us an icicle last night, and Wisp hasn’t electrocuted anyone.”

Cole rolled his eyes. “Yet.”

Kai laughed as they walked up to the camp. “To be fair, that’s better than Jay’s personal record.”

Cole shook his head, an easy smile on his face.


	44. Taking Off

Nya’s face was set in stone as they fetched Garmadon’s supplies from the monastery. Lloyd couldn’t tell what she was thinking – her jaw was set in the same way it was when she was staring at a wiring problem or a boardgame with Uncle Wu.

“Nya I,” she shook her head at him, staring past his head at the monstrous man behind him. She motioned for him to continue wrapping the journals he’d demanded they pack – precious old manuscripts he needed for who-knows-what.

The armored man was studying a map while waiting. “So,” he mused aloud. “He hid them.” Nya and Lloyd exchanged looks, confused. He turned to them. “Did my brother,” his mouth curled around the word. “Tell you of the Golden Weapons?”

Lloyd hesitated.

Garmadon gestured to the boy. “Go on. Speak truth, and you will not be harmed.”

“He told me they were powerful. That m,” he quickly caught himself. “His father researched them and recorded their locations.”

Garmadon hummed. “Interesting.” He began to inspect the other artifacts on display in the library. “He seems to have mastered our father’s methods of teaching. Which is to say,” he turned back to the teens. “To not teach at all.”

It was Nya who spoke up then. “What do you mean?”

Garmadon smiled. “It’s quite simple, child. You reveal small amounts of information – the existence of the weapons, for instance – and then, that reveal is so fantastic to your pupils, that they will believe anything you tell them afterward.” His face fell into a scowl. “I once believed everything my father and brother told me. I took most people at their word; it burned me many times.”

Lloyd thought back to his uncle’s words before leaving. “He is not an elemental master.” Was it too much to hope that it was a lie? If it was, what did that mean? Could he trust what this man was saying at all?

“Wu might be a short-sighted jerk, but he’s not a liar.” Nya’s sharp voice surprised him. “He tells us what we need to know.”

Garmadon’s sharp laugh sent chills down his spine. “If that is what you want to believe, child, then by all means. I for one shall not be convinced so simply.”

Nya seethed at his dismissal, while Lloyd continued to consider his words. Wu had never told him about his powers, but he’d known about random children across the country. If he hadn’t had that burst of power in the caves…would he have ever told him? He was almost as old as Cole and Jay had been when they’d arrived – how long was he supposed to have waited?

How long would he have been willing to wait?

\---

“So Jay gets an amazing cavern full of impossible lightning storms,” Cole tossed a tent up to Zane as he talked.

“Amazing my butt, nearly got myself fried convincing him to actually touch the damn dragon.”

Cole continued over Kai’s biting retort. “But I get a place called ‘The Caves of Despair’?” He turned to Wu, folding his arms.

Sensei Wu nodded and sipped his tea as they packed up camp. “An old moniker, Cole. It is more dangerous for its floods than anything else.” Cole dryly eyed the overcast sky above them.

“Your reassurance is deeply appreciated, Sensei.”

“Adversity builds character, Cole.” He stood. “It is why I allow you four to make your way to the weapons as efficiently or inefficiently as you wish.” He began to make his way down the path. It was true; he’d been making his own steady way without the dragons this whole time. Cole could not figure out how on earth he was keeping up at all. He shook his head and turned back to the others.

Jay piped up from where he was patting down Wisp. “Oh, don’t worry Cole! Maybe this is just your chance to get a dragon of your own!” He held the streamlined dragon to his chest, cooing at it like it was a puppy. “I bet you’ll love it, you big softie. Won’t he, Wispy?”

The comments flustered the older teen, leading him to sputter and trip over his words. Kai swooped in on the conversation, having finished packing up the other tent. “I’m sure you’ll be fine, Brookstone.” He clapped Cole’s back. “Besides, any hidden weapon hiding spot you can fit in, I can definitely fit into, so you have every bit of backup the motormouth did.” He grinned up at the taller ninja, completely ignoring Jay’s protest.

Cole rolled his eyes at the lighthearted comment. “Thanks, Flamebrain, I’ll keep that in mind.” He walked up to Shard and Zane – following his trip with Kai yesterday, he had agreed to ride with Zane from here on out. He couldn’t deny the speed it added to their travel, no matter how much he hated it. He stared up at the ice dragon, who looked even bigger with the prospect of riding it.

Zane smiled down at them from Shard’s back. “Do not worry, Cole. This trip has passed largely without incident.” He offered a hand to him, pulling him up onto the ice dragon and ignoring his clear apprehension. “I feel confident in our progress.” Cole was quick to wrap arms around the nindroids waist as he picked up the reigns.

Kai mumbled under his breath as he climbed onto Wisp with Jay. “Oh sure, let’s just have Zane jinx up the whole trip in the span of two seconds.” Jay snickered at his comment and helped him up.

“Aw don’t feel frustrated, Kai.” He said. “We’ll get to the fire sword soon. And then you’ll have a dragon!” He had Wisp take off with a whoop, and Kai latched on around his stomach as they climbed impossibly high impossibly fast.

“What about Zane and Cole?!” He yelled over the wind.

“Dude we should totally do a barrel roll!” Jay called back. Kai could only scream and hold on even tighter through the flight.


	45. Destiny's Sting

“So, uh, I gotta go in there?”

Standing in front of the actual cavern, Cole felt a chill settle squarely in his stomach. At least Zane’s was a regular mountain; he got an abandoned mineshaft called “The Caves of Despair.”

Kai nudged him. “You got this.” He cracked a smile. “Just don’t lose your head.”

Cole nodded with a shaky breath. “I got this.”

“In and out.”

“In and out.”

“And if you don’t come back I get your room.”

“And if I – Kai!”

Kai laughed. “Just joking, big guy. You’ll do great!” He clapped Cole on the back. “Go get ‘em!”

Cole sucked in a breath and leapt for the next ledge. His grip stuck fast. It was a long way down, but he’d always been comfortable on a mountainside.

How different could the inside be?

\---

Lloyd quietly shouldered his pack; he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the imposing figure that walked ahead of them. Garmadon’s stature loomed over him as they walked, his shadow stretching far behind them on the worn path. He darkened the very landscape.

He was everything the old journal had implied and more.

But…if he truly was his father…then he would know.

Elemental powers were passed through the bloodline.

Right?

“Um,” Lloyd froze at the sharp red eyes glaring at him. “L-lord Garmadon…”

“Spit it out, child.”

Lloyd fixed his eyes on the path under his feet. “You…you mentioned wanting a family. Why,”

“I warned you, child.” Garmadon’s voice was a chilling rumble. “Not to try prying into my family. Choose your next words carefully.”

He breathed in a shaky inhale. “I meant to ask,” Nya shot him a warning glance. He pressed on. “Why did Wu banish you? What – I mean,” He struggled to find the words. “What happened?”

It was like the very air around them chilled.

Garmadon growled. “My brother was a fool.”

\---

_A shadow darkened the steps of the monastery._

_A young man stepped out of the doorway. Blond hair swept in the quiet wind._

_He stared silently at the figure looming in the front gate._

_It leered at him, waning sunlight glinting off of sheathed weapons. “Hello, Wu.”_

_“Garmadon,” he breathed. “Brother.”_

_“Please.” He sneered. “We both know you haven’t called me that in years.” He stepped into the courtyard._

_Wu squared his shoulders. “You have always been my brother.”_

_“You resented my power.”_

_Wu looked at him with sad eyes. “I looked up to your prowess.”_

_Garmadon straightened and glared at his younger brother. “You could share in my power, Wu.” He lifted a hand. “Just hand them over,” he said. “Father always intended them to be ours. You know that.”_

_Wu recoiled, placing a protective hand on the doorway._

_He shook his head._

_“Not like this, Garmadon.”_

_Garmadon clenched his hands. “You always were a shortsighted fool.” He stomped forward. “Give me the weapons!”_

_Wu trembled and steeled his resolve. “I will not.” He hesitated. “I,” He steeled his resolve. “We both know this is wrong.”_

_“This is destiny!”_

_Wu furrowed his brow. “Do not presume to know destiny!” His hands shook at his sides. “No one can know destiny’s paths.” He inhaled a calming breath, and set a hand on the weapon at his hip. “Please, brother.”_

_He offered a hand._

_“Do not make me do this.”_

_“I am not forcing you to be a traitor, brother.” Garmadon grit his teeth. “You could easily join me. Easily have all the power in the world. Easily keep this family together.”_

_Wu unsheathed his sword, and Garmadon followed. “Then you leave me no choice.”_

_Figures raced forward, and swords clashed in the dying daylight._


	46. Underground Gem

Cole was no stranger to rock climbing.

In fact, he normally found it to be a great comfort to him; the exertion and strain on his muscles served as a balm to his brain.

But the key for him was rock climbing – not cave diving or exploration or whatever this was. Caves were cold, and dark, and apparently housed horrible giant flying lizards.

Maybe he should have listened to his dad, and not Kai.

He cautiously lowered himself down to the solid cave floor, chancing a glance up. He could barely see the sliver of light above him – Kai still wasn’t super great with his element yet, but he could easily keep a small fire going.

It was barely a flicker from here.

Now the wall was at his back, the fire high above his head, and a dark corridor ahead. The original mine hadn’t even reached this far. There were no braces, no cart rails to follow. He was truly on his own; who knew how long it had been since someone had set foot where he carefully tread.

It was getting colder.

The air was dry and stale.

Cole paused. He could see his feet again. He looked up – a soft orange glow was casting faint shadows on the rocky path.

He was here.

The others had told him what their places looked like – Zane described intricate fractals in every direction, while Jay and Kai admitted that the sparks and lightning were gorgeous when you weren’t being chased by an angry dragon.

Cole had to admit, his cave put theirs to shame.

Orange glowing crystals jutted from every wall, in the biggest clusters he’d ever seen. He knew geology; it was an ironic love he’d had before Wu had ever met him. These crystals were flawless, beautiful angular gems that almost pulsed with light. Their light illuminated the entire cave without ever blinding him, a gentle glow that put him at ease. He could almost feel a laugh begin to bubble in his chest.

Until he turned to the center of the room, and consequently met the narrowed orange eyes of a giant. Flying. Killer. Lizard.

His breath caught in his throat.

It was huge.

Zane’s dragon was large, and graceful; Jay’s was fast and flighty.

This dragon was huge; everything about it screamed “power”. Just in moving its head up to stare down at Cole, he could see muscles and tendons move in perfect sync, each looking like organic cogs in a perfect machine. He could even see where its lip was caught on a fang – a sharp fang, nearly as long as his forearm.

Cole swallowed and raised a shaking hand. “H-hey.”

The roar that responded shook him to his core and sent crystals shaking from the cave walls. Cole stepped forward and back with his hands over his head, dodging the now very threatening pointy death rocks.

“Geez,” He gasped. “I just said hi! What’s wrong with you?” Another roar reverbed through the cave. He rolled to the side, ducking behind a cropping of crystals. “Way to go, Cole,” he berated himself. “Just tick off the huge reptile, why don’t you, seems like a great plan!” The dragon’s bellowing shook the entire cavern for another few minutes before going quiet. Cole sat behind his pile of crystals, arms crossed over his face, waiting for the inevitable gory end.

Only for nothing to happen.

Cole cautiously looked up. “Please don’t be doing psychological warfare,” he asked, rising to his knees. “It’s really kind of rude,” He was breathing in quick pants as he turned to face what was surely right behind him. “And it’s much nicer to…kill me…” he trailed off. “Quickly…”

The dragon hadn’t moved from its spot curled in the middle of the room. A low rumble growled out from it constantly, but it hadn’t even moved beyond looking around and staring straight at Cole.

“Not that I, y’know, want you to kill me…” Cole took a cautious step forward. “But why aren’t you…chasing me around with open jaws of death?”

The growl lowered to a quiet rolling groan.

A pained groan, Cole realized with a concerned look. His steps increased in confidence as he walked around the dragon, scrutinizing its legs. “What’s hurting you?” He nearly tripped over its tail, making it thrash and scramble. “Sorry!” Cole squeaked. “Sorry – I didn’t mean to, I won’t do it again, sorry!” The creature seemed to exhaust itself, laying its head down to follow him with its eyes.

When he found the problem, Cole’s face fell in sympathy.

Hidden by its wing, a large gash scraped down the length of its hind leg. Cole looked up at the gems still clinging to the ceiling. “You knocked one onto yourself, didn’t you?” He inched forward, sinking to his knees and reaching into his bag. “Hold on…I think…”

Zane had overpacked for all of them, but Cole always carried extra bandages. He smiled and held up an untouched roll. “I knew it.” He cautiously pulled out disinfectant and gauze. “Let’s get you taken care of, buddy.”

The dragon huffed out a sigh.

“I know, we’re almost done.”

The time passed quickly, and Cole found himself wholly relaxed when he tied off the last bandage, roll fully exhausted. He rose to his feet. “How does that feel?”

The dragon scrambled to get up. Cole winced at its unsteady legs – how long had it been laying there?

It gave a low crooning rumble and knocked him to the ground with a head to his chest.

Cole laughed. “You’re welcome, buddy.” He patted its head, surprised at the smoothness of its scales. “Say…you haven’t seen a scythe anywhere, have you?”

Minutes later, Cole was carefully climbing alongside the cave dragon back up to the surface. It followed him with a surprising array of sounds – croons and clicks, like a constant conversation.

Cole smiled warmly at him. “We’re almost to the top, Rocky, come on!”


End file.
